Hic! Jumbo drinks to beat winter (Russian Elephants Drink Vodka to Stay Warm)

Hindustan Times ^ | January 14, 2006

[nickcarraway]

Indian elephants preparing to perform in the Mongolian capital of Ulan Bator are drinking daily doses of vodka to help them survive temperatures as low as minus 28 degrees Celsius, a media report said.

The elephants are working for the Moscow State Circus, which on Sunday plans to hold its first show in Mongolia in 25 years, the UB Post newspaper said in a report posted on its website.

The elephants had to travel on trucks from Moscow to Ulan Bator because they were too large to be transported by rail with the rest of the circus.

To help the Indian elephants ward off the cold, staff at the Ulan Bator State Circus are giving them two litres of vodka a day, the newspaper quoted the Mongolian circus manager as saying.

The circus staff are also feeding each elephant with a daily diet of around 50 kg of vegetables, 30 kg of fruit and 20 kg of bread and honey.

The Moscow State Circus is scheduled to stage two shows daily from Sunday in Ulan Bator.

The elephants will perform a 20-minute routine in each two-hour show, which will also feature clowns, magicians, trapeze artists, jugglers and contortionists, the report said.

The daytime temperature in Ulan Bator was minus 22 degrees Celsius on Friday and was forecast to fall to as low as minus 28 on Sunday, a government website said.

[GSlob]

They picked it from Walt Disney. Plagiarists!

[CarrotAndStick]

Drunken elephants die in accident (Only in India)

By Subir Bhaumik
BBC correspondent in Calcutta


Four wild elephants drunk on rice beer have been electrocuted in the north-east Indian state of Meghalaya, wildlife officials report.
The elephants are known to have a taste for rice beer brewed by tribal communities across north-east India.

But this is the first time some of them have died after consuming the drink.

A herd of about 20 to 25 elephants went on the rampage in a remote area in the West Garo Hills district earlier this week after getting high on the beer.

Elephants have been raiding villages in search of beer

As panicky villagers fled for cover, leaving behind their freshly brewed beverage, the elephants drank to their heart's content.

The inebriated elephants then struck an electric pole and brought it down.

But their trunks took the brunt of the shock from the high-tension wire.

Four of the elephants were killed instantly.

Assam's elephant expert Kushal Konwar Sharma, a lecturer, said these elephants frequently consume rice beer and cause devastation when they become intoxicated.

Wildlife officials say in the last two years elephants have killed at least 180 people in Assam and Meghalaya.

And more than 200 elephants have been killed by angry villagers during the last six years in the two states, in what is developing into a fierce conflict between man and beast.

Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/south_asia/3423881.stm

Published: 2004/01/23 16:29:40 GMT

© BBC MMVI

[dighton]

Moti Guj — Mutineer

[TChad]

I very much doubt that alcohol helps the elephants with the cold. It probably does just the opposite, as occurs with humans. Peripheral vasodilation increases heat loss, and shivering is reduced.

[CarrotAndStick]

Vodka and the harsh Russian winter are the best of friends.

[ApplegateRanch]

Yes, shivering down, skin temperature up, feel great.

Meanwhile, heat loss through the roof, core temp dropping; drowziness; coma; death.

BTW, did you notice that there wasn't any real roughage in the diet?

Cruelty to animals.

Speaking of which, I wonder if the Russians still make bears "dance" by building fires under the metal floors of their cages?

[Darth Republican]

Russian Elephants Drink Vodka to Stay Warm*

So do Senior Senators from *hic* Massachussets

*and to stay cool, and to stay awake, and to sleep, and to legislate, and to attempt to think, and...

[Darth Republican]

Oops I meant Massachusetts

Gotta avoid posting after meeting with my friend Smirnoff.

[TChad]

Vodka and the harsh Russian winter are the best of friends.

And the average life expectancy of a Russian male is 58.9 years, according to a recent Russian government study.

[CarrotAndStick]

Hmm...the winter kills, so does the vodka. Friends indeed!

[StACase]

The elephants had to travel on trucks...because they were too large to be transported by rail with the rest of the circus.

That doesn't make sense.

[HuntsvilleTxVeteran]

I lived in Carencro, Louisiana and Carencro means buzzard.

The story on how it got its name was a circus came through Lafayette and an elephant died.

When the train passed through the country, they kicked the dead elephant in a man's pasture.

[dancusa]

[sure_fine]

Hic

[skinkinthegrass]

Can elephants, See Pink Elephants?

[CarrotAndStick]

Say what?

[skinkinthegrass]

LOL! ...how embarrassingly crass for the elephant...:D

[A. Pole]

I very much doubt that alcohol helps the elephants with the cold. It probably does just the opposite, as occurs with humans. Peripheral vasodilation increases heat loss, and shivering is reduced.

Since the elephants are much larger it might be different for them. Their skin has different structure too.