When an unexpectedly cold front from China descended on parts of Southeast Asia this past week, people in Thailand, Myanmar, Laos and Cambodia bundled up in coats to stave off the region’s unusual weather.

But what’s an elephant to do?

The unseasonal weather hit the Winga Baw camp for orphaned elephants in Myanmar, and workers scrambled to protect the seven animals in their care, using straw to keep them warm, according to Sangdeaun Lek Chailert, founder of the Save Elephant Foundation, a nonprofit based in Thailand that is dedicated to Asian elephants.

“We haven’t had weather this cold in 40 years,” she said by phone on Sunday while traveling through northern Thailand.

Temperatures fell to 8 degrees Celsius (46 degrees Fahrenheit) in some parts of the country. But the camp, in the Bago Region of Myanmar, had another secret weapon: giant knitted and crocheted blankets.