旅游业收入骤降 泰国大象可能要挨饿了

由于新冠肺炎疫情导致泰国旅游业收入出现大幅下降，1000多头大象面临缺少食物的困境。一些村民把饲养的大象送回保护区或卖给动物园，甚至送回非法伐木行业。

Baby elephant Ploy is trained to perform tricks at the Ban Ta Klang elephant village in Thailand. [LILLIAN SUWANRUMPHA/AFP]

More than 1,000 elephants face starvation in Thailand because the coronavirus crisis has slashed revenue from tourism, conservationists say.

环保人士称，由于新冠肺炎疫情导致旅游业收入锐减，泰国有超过1000头大象面临饥饿困境。

conservationist [ˌkɒnsəˈveɪʃənɪst]：n.

An almost total absence of visitors means that many caretakers are struggling to afford food for Thailand's 4,000 captive elephants.

几乎完全没有游客到访意味着许多看护员很难负担得起圈养大象的食物。泰国有4000头圈养大象。

The animals can eat up to 200kg of food a day.

大象每天可以吃掉多达200公斤的食物。

Thailand reported 127 new confirmed cases of the virus on Monday, bringing the country's recorded total to 1,651.

本周一 Lek Chailert, founder of the Save Elephant Foundation, told the BBC: "If there is no support forthcoming to keep them safe, these elephants, some of whom are pregnant, will either starve to death or may be put on to the streets to beg."

拯救大象基金会的创始人蕾克·查略特告诉英国广播公司：“如果今后没有援助来保证它们的安全，这些大象要么饿死，要么就会被扔到街上乞讨，其中一些大象还怀孕了。”

Alternatively, some elephants may be sold to zoos or they may be returned to the illicit logging business, which officially banned the use of elephants in 1989.

一些大象可能会被卖给动物园，或被送回非法伐木行业，该行业自1989年起正式禁止使用大象。

illicit [ɪˈlɪsɪt]：adj.违法的；不正当的

The elephant show in Thailand is one of the biggest attractions for Chinese tourists.[Photo/China Daily]

"It's a very bleak outlook unless some financial help is received immediately," Lek Chailert adds.

蕾克·查略特补充道：“除非立即得到一些财政援助，否则前景非常暗淡。”

It's a challenge to keep the animals fed and healthy at the best of times but now it's the dry season, which makes the situation even more extreme.

即使在最好的情况下，喂养动物并保证其健康也不是易事，但现在是旱季，这使得情况更加棘手。

Kerri McCrae, who manages the Kindred Spirit Elephant Sanctuary in Mae Chaem, in northern Thailand, said the villagers who live near her had brought approximately seven elephants back to her area because they were not receiving any money from tourism anymore.

克里·麦克雷在泰国北部的夜占管理着一家名为志趣相投的大象保护区，她说附近的村民已经把大约七头大象带回了她的保护区，因为他们失去了旅游业收入。

"Feeding elephants is a priority but the issue is that there's not enough forest left to feed them," she explains.

“喂大象是首要任务，但问题是森林不够用，”她解释说。

Ms McCrae, who originally comes from Northern Ireland and is also a co-founder of the sanctuary, has to drive up to three hours a day to find enough grasses and corn stalks to feed the five elephants in her care.

麦克雷女士来自北爱尔兰，也是保护区的联合创始人，她每天要开车3个小时去寻找足够的草和玉米秸秆来喂养她照顾的5头大象。

She says local elephant caretakers are forced to do the same.

她说，当地的大象看护员也不得不这样做。

The country, which normally relies on tourism for a large portion of its economic growth, has been forced to close its borders to all tourists and much of the country is in lockdown.

泰国已被迫对所有游客关闭边境，国内大部分地区也已封锁。泰国的经济增长通常很大程度上依赖于旅游业。

Happy elephants, Kerri McCrae says, are usually swinging their tails or flapping their ears or even giving themselves dust baths to keep cool. But elephants get depressed when they're hungry, and none of that happy behaviour would be on display.

克里·麦克雷说，快乐的大象通常会摆动尾巴或者拍打耳朵，甚至会给自己洗个泥浆浴来保持凉爽。但是大象饿的时候会很沮丧，不会表现出快乐。

"The worst case scenario is that owners will have to choose between themselves and their elephants," Ms McCrae says. "The people here don't have much, but they're doing what it takes to keep the elephants alive for now."

“最糟糕的情况是，大象的主人将不得不在自己和大象之间做出选择，”麦克雷女士表示。“这里的人没有多少钱，但他们正在尽一切努力让大象活下去。”