Two
elephants have been saved from the deadly Siberian cold by drinking vodka,
Russian officials say.
They
say the animals had to be taken out into the bitter cold after the wooden
trailer they were travelling in caught fire in the Novosibirsk region.
The
elephants, aged 45 and 48, suffered frostbite to the tips of their ears amid
temperatures of -40C (-40F)
But
they were warmed up by two cases of vodka mixed with warm water, one official
was quoted as saying.
"They
started roaring like if they were in the jungle! Perhaps, they were
happy," the official told Russia's Ria Novosti news agency.
The
animals continued their recovery in a heated garage of a local college where
they were brought by a truck under police escort.
The
elephants belong to a Polish circus, which has been touring the region, reports
say.
Like
with humans, alcohol can make animals feel warmer but it actually lowers their
core body temperature, scientists say.
But
Komsomolskaya Pravda newspaper quoted Novosibirsk zoo director Rostislav Shilo
as saying that the elephants were not harmed or intoxicated by the vodka, and
that without it they would have died of hypothermia or pneumonia.
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