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| Mongolian family have their picture taken with an elephant at
the Moscow in Ulan Bator. |
The Moscow Circus has resorted to vodka -- plenty of it -- to keep two
Indian elephants warm while they perform in chilly Mongolia.
As the circus prepared for a week-long program in Mongolia's capital
Ulan Bator, they faced an awkward problem -- how to keep the two tropical
animals happy in one of the world's coldest environments. They found a
very Russian solution.
"When the elephants arrived, we gave them three liters of vodka each to
keep warm," a Mongolian organizer said.
The mercury in Mongolia regularly falls to minus 30 degrees Celsius
(minus 22 degrees Fahrenheit) or lower during the winter months.
Last time the Moscow Circus was in Ulan Bator was over 25 years ago,
when Russia was still the center of the mighty Soviet Union, and Mongolia
was its obedient satellite, according to the Ulan Bator Post.
The elephants, transported by truck from Russia, have posed major
logistical problems for the organizers, the paper said.
Mongolia's State Circus, which provides the venue for the twice-daily
shows, did not have a pen big enough for the
elephants, and instead its horse pens had to be altered into make-shift
elephant accommodation.
The elephants also have to be fed 50 kilograms of vegetables, 30
kilograms of fruit and 20 kilograms of bread and honey every day, running
up a giant food bill footed by Mongol Gazar Savings and Loan.
(Agencies) |
為了給在寒冷的蒙古表演馬戲的兩只印度大象御寒，莫斯科馬戲團想盡招數，最后給它們"灌"下了不少伏特加。
馬戲團在為蒙古首都烏蘭巴托為期一周的馬戲表演做準備時，遇到了一個難題：怎樣才能讓這兩只亞熱帶的動物在這個世界上最為寒冷的國家仍然保持興奮狀態呢？他們找到了一個"俄式方案"。
蒙古主辦方的一名成員說，"大象一到這里，我們就給它們喝了3公升伏特加，讓它們暖和暖和。"
蒙古冬季的氣溫一般都會降至零下30攝氏度（華氏溫度零下22度），甚至更低。
據烏蘭巴托郵報介紹，莫斯科馬戲團上一次來到烏蘭巴托是在25年前，當時俄羅斯還是國力強大的蘇聯的中心，而蒙古則是蘇聯的"衛星國"。
報上說，這兩只大象是從俄羅斯坐卡車來到這里的。它們的"膳宿"問題讓主辦方大傷腦筋。
馬戲團在蒙古國家馬戲場表演，每天2場。而蒙古國家馬戲場卻沒有足夠大的圍欄讓這兩只大象"入住"，最后只有把馬廄改造成臨時的大象圍欄。
這兩只大象每天要吃掉50公斤蔬菜、30公斤水果、20公斤面包再加上蜂蜜。蒙古國家存貸部負責為它們買單。
(中國日報網站編譯) |
Updated: 2006-01-17 08:38
