We always knew that booze had healing powers. According to Russian circus trainers, though, that magical property also extends to elephants.

Two circus elephants were being housed in a trailer outside the Russian city of Novosibirsk on Thursday night when the trailer somehow caught fire, forcing the circus trainers to bring the elephants out into the bitterly cold winter night.  To help keep the animals warm, trainer Leonid Labo gave the animals 2.6 gallons of vodka diluted with some warm water. Labo says the vodka helped keep the animals warm and a veterinarian later said the elephants suffered only from frostbite on the tips of their ears before they could be moved to a warm gym at a local community college.

Physicians say that alcohol only makes us feel warmer and that it actually has the opposite effect of reducing our core body temperature. But who are we going to believe here—medical doctors or Russian carnies? Once again, vodka saves the day.

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