You're reading: Vodka saves elephants from death in Siberian frost

MOSCOW — Vodka saved two circus elephants in Russia from the deadly Siberian cold.

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.

Novosibisk
zoo director Rostislav Shilo told the daily that the vodka saved the
animals from frostbite and pneumonia, without harming or even
intoxicating them.