Elephants fed giant shots of vodka as big freeze grips Russia

[54anickel]

http://news.independent.co.uk/europe/article339584.ece

Animals at zoos across Russia are being given shots, or in some cases buckets, of vodka to keep them warm as temperatures in the European part of the country plunged towards an exceptional minus 40C.

In the ancient town of Yaroslavl, 100 miles north of Moscow, a travelling circus said it had been forced to start giving its trio of Indian elephants vodka mixed with water in buckets as the mercury dipped.

In Lipetsk, where meteorologists recorded temperatures of minus 32C, the zoo's contingent of macaques was being fortified with cheap French table wine three times a day and in other zoos camels, wild boars and reindeer were being given regular shots of vodka to stave off the chill.

People who clutched their mobile phones to their ears for too long have been taken to hospital with frostbite; homeless people have frozen to death where they slumped and some of Moscow's famously bright lights have had to be temporarily turned off as the city consumes record amounts of electricity and moves to selective rationing.

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[Straight Shooter]

1. Selective rationing coming soon to a country near you!

Maybe your very own. x(

[Geo55]

4. Yep , ripped wild life is one thing ,

it's the last line that rattles my cage.

[benburch]

2. Wow!

But I thought that alcohol was actually BAD for you when it was cold???

[CrazyOrangeCat]

5. It is.

Drunken pachyderms are also bad for you.

I have a friend who went to Russia.

Very, very, strange days.

And even weirder nites.

[tuvor]

3. Since when does drinking keep you warm?

It may make you FEEL warmer, but that's about it.

[TheBaldyMan]

7. well the macaques are too busy having drunken monkey sex

to notice the chill.

[Rabrrrrrr]

8. Yeah, I don't think they're using good science at all.

[Journeyman]

12. Yes, but "the elephants need it" is only cover. . .

for the caretakers who are freezing their asses off trying to keep pachyderms alive and for whom a bucket of vodka might be just the trick to help them make it through the night. And true, the caretakers may only FEEL warmer, but they'll be too drunk to care when their ass breaks off.

[niyad]

6. looks like james lovelock is right.

[54anickel]

10. Was that the guy that wrote about human extinction?

When you think consuming vodka is going to save your ass in -40C weather, perhaps natural selection plays a role in your extinction.

[ewoden]

9. Alternative headline:

Elephants on Capitol hill fed vodka as Abramoff scandal grabs their jewels in an icy grip.

[Skink]

11. If you have that much Vodka that you need to give it to an elephant

:wtf:

[CrazyOrangeCat]

13. LOL !!!

[roguevalley]

14. alcohol will enhance and hurry their freezing. God lord, I hate zoos.