And, it turns out, you can also make him drink:

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

One elephant, tanked up, subsequently went on a rampage, the U.K. Mirror reports.

Perhaps his pail was garnished with an olive, instead of a twist. Or perhaps he was smart enough — elephants are pretty smart, right? — to know that drinking alcohol is not a good idea in the cold.

[tags] Russia, elephant, vodka [/tags]