A zoologist in central Kazakhstan has confirmed what many people already suspected. Red wine is good for you. It’s so good for you, in fact, that Svetlana Pilyuk, the chief animal specialist at Karaganda zoo in central Kazakhstan, feeds red wine to her monkeys to ward off winter colds, the Telegraph writes.
"We give the monkeys wine because in the winter it protects them from respiratory infections," the AFP news agency quoted Ms Pilyuk as saying.
“You could say we douse them with wine to ward off flu.”
Karaganda lies in the middle of the vast Kazakh steppe and in winter it is one of the coldest places on earth with temperatures regularly hitting - 22F (- 30C). The monkeys, though, live inside where the temperature is closer to 80F (27C).
But not all the monkeys are allowed a daily ration of wine. Pregnant and baby monkeys are barred from wine, Ms Pilyuk said.
Still, most of the monkeys apparently appreciate their daily tot of red wine which Ms Pilyuk prepares by adding fruit, sugar and hot water.
"After all, primates are just like people. They enjoy drinking an alcoholic drink, they like it. Some of them even abuse it, coming up to the drinking trough several times," she said.
O grădina zoologică din Kazahstan le dă maimuţelor vin ca să reziste la frig
Maimuţele de la grădina zoologică din Karaganda (Kazahstan), zonă peste care s-a abătut un val de frig, beau în fiecare zi vin fiert ca să se încălzească.
'La grădina noastră zoologică, dăm vin maimuţelor, pentru că vinul le protejează iarna de infecţii virale ale sistemului respirator', a spus directoarea grădinii, Svetlana Piliuk, precizând că vinul fiert servit primatelor este foarte dulce. 'La urma urmelor, primatele sunt ca oamenii. Beau cu plăcere băuturi alcoolizate, unele chiar prea mult', a adăugat ea, precizând totuşi că nu se dă alcool femelelor gestante sau puilor de maimuţă.
'Preparăm băutura astfel: punem o sticlă de vin (roşu) la fiert, adăugăm bucăţi de fructe, miere, zahăr', a explicat directoarea grădinii zoologice, fără să precizeze cât vin primeşte fiecare maimuţă. La Karaganda, temperaturile din ultimele zile au coborât până la -33 grade C.
