Here’s a story with a happy ending from Siberia:
Circus trainers claim two of their elephants were saved from the deadly Siberian cold by vodka.
Emergency ministry spokesman Alexander Davydov said Friday that the elephants were in a trailer that caught fire Thursday outside the city of Novosibirsk, forcing trainers to take them out into the bitter cold before another truck arrived to deliver them to a warm gym at a local community college.
The Komsomolskaya Pravda daily reported that trainer Leonid Labo had the animals, aged 45 and 48, drink 10 liters (2.6 gallons) of vodka diluted in warm water — and a veterinarian said later that only the tips of their ears were frostbitten.
While scientists say that vodka actually lowers humans’ — and presumably elephants’ — body temperature, Novosibisk zoo director Rostislav Shilo begs to differ. He insisted that without it the elephants could not have withstood the 40-below-zero temperature. Another official offered this assessment: “They started roaring like if they were in the jungle! Perhaps, they were happy.”