(BBCNews) - A zoo in central Kazakhstan, where overnight temperatures have dipped to nearly -40C, is giving monkeys a wine concoction as a remedy against flu. Karaganda Zoo chief animal specialist Svetlana Pilyuk told local media it was not a matter of making the animals drunk but of "relaxing" them. The red wine is diluted with hot water and mixed with sugar and fruit. Ms Pilyuk said it was "normal practice" in zoos but London Zoo told the BBC this was "absolutely not" the case. Karaganda is one of the oldest zoos in Kazakhstan, an ex-Soviet republic with extreme winters.