Freezing Elephants 'Saved' by Vodka

After trailer catches fire in Siberia, Russia's favorite drink keeps them warm
By Kevin Spak,  Newser Staff
Posted Dec 14, 2012 3:47 PM CST
Updated Dec 15, 2012 9:30 AM CST
Freezing Elephants 'Saved' by Vodka
'They started roaring like if they were in the jungle! Perhaps they were happy.'   (Shutterstock)

Sometimes you really need a drink. One of those times: When your truck has caught fire and you're standing by the side of a Siberian highway in freezing weather with frostbite setting in. That's the predicament a pair of Indian elephants found themselves in, and their quick-thinking handlers did the best thing they could think of: They fed the elephants two cases of vodka mixed with warm water and forced them to jog, RIA Novosti reports.

"They roared like it was the jungle," a local official says. "Must have been happy." The elephants belong to a Polish circus that had been touring Siberia, and the hay in their truck caught fire thanks to heat from the diesel engine. They escaped the ordeal with minor frostbite to their legs and ears. So all hail vodka? Not so fast. The BBC points out that while alcohol makes you feel warmer, it actually reduces your core body temperature. (More elephant stories.)

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