在泰國(guó)，隨著冠狀病毒對(duì)旅游業(yè)的打擊，人們對(duì)大象的關(guān)注日益增加

在泰國(guó)，隨著冠狀病毒對(duì)旅游業(yè)的打擊，人們對(duì)大象的關(guān)注日益增加

On a March morning at the Maetaeng Elephant Park in Thailand's northern Chiang Mai province, the elephants and their handlers, called mahouts, were entertaining visitors with tricks. Elephants painted pictures with their trunks and deftly back-kicked soccer balls into a net.

3月的一個(gè)早晨，在泰國(guó)北部清邁省的馬泰昂大象公園，這些大象和它們的馴象師，被稱為“馴象員”，用戲法招待游客。大象用鼻子畫圖畫，然后巧妙地把足球踢進(jìn)網(wǎng)里。

Maetaeng is one of the biggest wildlife camps in the north, with 85 elephants. They are also available for guests to ride or go trekking with in the surrounding hills.

馬泰昂是北方最大的野生動(dòng)物營(yíng)地之一，有85頭大象。也可供客人在周圍的山丘上騎行或徒步旅行。

It's a lucrative business in normal times. On a good day, says communications director Dhanapume Asoke-trakul, the camp draws about 1.000 visitors, mostly from China or other Asian countries. But this was not a good day.

在正常時(shí)期，這是一個(gè)利潤(rùn)豐厚的行業(yè)。宣傳主管達(dá)納普米·阿索克·川酷說，如果天氣好的話，這個(gè)營(yíng)地會(huì)吸引大約1000名游客，他們大多來自中國(guó)或其他亞洲國(guó)家。但今天不是好日子。

He counted the crowd with his finger.

他用手指數(shù)了數(shù)人群。

"One, two, three, four, five, six seven..." He stopped. "Fourteen," he said.

“一、二、三、四、五、六七……”他停住了。“十四人,”他說。

Not long after, Thailand declared a state of emergency due to the coronavirus and asked entertainment venues to close. Maetaeng shut on March 27.

不久之后，泰國(guó)宣布由于冠狀病毒進(jìn)入緊急狀態(tài)，并要求娛樂場(chǎng)所關(guān)閉。馬泰昂于3月27日關(guān)閉。

Thailand has nearly 3.800 domesticated elephants, most kept in camps like this, but concerns are growing over the animals' welfare in what's expected to be a time of prolonged severe economic hardship.

泰國(guó)有近3800頭馴養(yǎng)的大象，大多數(shù)都被關(guān)在這樣的營(yíng)地里，但人們?cè)絹碓綋?dān)心這些動(dòng)物的福利，因?yàn)轭A(yù)計(jì)這將是一個(gè)長(zhǎng)期嚴(yán)重的經(jīng)濟(jì)困難時(shí)期。

By the time Maetang shut, most other camps in the province had already closed for lack of customers, says Maetaeng's general manager, Borpit Chailert. His family-owned park is in a better position than most, with deeper pockets to ride out what he hopes is a temporary situation. But, he says, the clock is ticking.

馬泰昂的總經(jīng)理波比特·查萊特說，到馬泰昂關(guān)閉的時(shí)候，這個(gè)省的大多數(shù)營(yíng)地已經(jīng)因?yàn)槿鄙兕櫩投P(guān)閉了。他的家族所有的公園比大多數(shù)公園都更有優(yōu)勢(shì)，有更雄厚的財(cái)力來渡過他希望是暫時(shí)的困境。但是，他說，時(shí)間不等人。

He says. "About five months or six months, that's the longest we can last."

他說:“大約5個(gè)月或6個(gè)月，這是我們能堅(jiān)持的最長(zhǎng)時(shí)間。”

That's because keeping elephants is expensive. You can't just park them like cars or tour buses until the situation improves, says Chatchote Thitaram of the Center of Elephant and Wildlife Research at Chiang Mai University.

那是因?yàn)轲B(yǎng)大象很貴。清邁大學(xué)大象與野生動(dòng)物研究中心的查庫(kù)特·泰塔姆說，在情況改善之前，你不能像停汽車或旅游巴士那樣停它們。

"Elephants eat quite a lot, like 200 to 300 kilograms [440 to 660 pounds] a day," he says, "so this means you have to spend something like [about $1.000] a month just to feed them."

“大象每天要吃很多東西，大約200到300公斤(440到660磅)，”他說，“所以這意味著你每月要花大約1000美元來喂養(yǎng)它們。”

On top of that is the cost to employ the mahout who cares for each elephant.

最重要的是雇傭照顧每頭大象的馴象員的成本。

Borpit says he's asked mahouts at his camp to take a 50% pay cut — about $300 a month — for the time being.

波比特說，他已經(jīng)要求營(yíng)地里的馴象員暫時(shí)減薪50%，每月減薪約300美元。

"They all agreed," he says. "Because they understand what the situation is like right now. And they understand if we don't do this, nobody will survive through this emergency situation."

“他們都同意了，”他說。“因?yàn)樗麄兞私猬F(xiàn)在的情況。他們明白，如果我們不這樣做，沒有人能在這種緊急情況下生存下來。”

As for the elephants, "We have to feed them the same as we used to do, because they can't find their own food."

至于大象，“我們必須像以前一樣喂它們，因?yàn)樗鼈冋也坏阶约旱氖澄铩?rdquo;

With the current crisis, some mahouts who come from ethnic minority areas in northern Thailand can return home and let their elephants forage in the jungle near their homes. But most mahouts who own their elephants and rent them to the camps don't have that option, Chatchote says.

由于目前的危機(jī)，一些來自泰國(guó)北部少數(shù)民族地區(qū)的馴象員可以回家，讓他們的大象在他們家附近的叢林里覓食。但大多數(shù)擁有大象并把它們租給營(yíng)地的馴象員卻沒有這樣的選擇，查庫(kù)特說。

And that has animal welfare advocates and others especially worried.

這讓動(dòng)物福利倡導(dǎo)者和其他人特別擔(dān)心。