在泰國，隨著冠狀病毒對旅游業(yè)的打擊，人們對大象的關注日益增加

在泰國，隨著冠狀病毒對旅游業(yè)的打擊，人們對大象的關注日益增加

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月的一個早晨，在泰國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網里。

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物營地之一，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.

在正常時期，這是一個利潤豐厚的行業(yè)。宣傳主管達納普米·阿索克·川酷說，如果天氣好的話，這個營地會吸引大約1000名游客，他們大多來自中國或其他亞洲國家。但今天不是好日子。

He counted the crowd with his finger.

他用手指數了數人群。

"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，泰國宣布由于冠狀病毒進入緊急狀態(tài)，并要求娛樂場所關閉。馬泰昂于3月27日關閉。

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.

泰國有近3800頭馴養(yǎng)的大象，大多數都被關在這樣的營地里，但人們越來越擔心這些動物的福利，因為預計這將是一個長期嚴重的經濟困難時期。

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.

馬泰昂的總經理波比特·查萊特說，到馬泰昂關閉的時候，這個省的大多數營地已經因為缺少顧客而關閉了。他的家族所有的公園比大多數公園都更有優(yōu)勢，有更雄厚的財力來渡過他希望是暫時的困境。但是，他說，時間不等人。

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

他說:“大約5個月或6個月，這是我們能堅持的最長時間。”

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.

那是因為養(yǎng)大象很貴。清邁大學大象與野生動物研究中心的查庫特·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，他已經要求營地里的馴象員暫時減薪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。“因為他們了解現在的情況。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，因為它們找不到自己的食物。”

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，一些來自泰國北部少數民族地區(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。但大多數擁有大象并把它們租給營地的馴象員卻沒有這樣的選擇，查庫特說。

And that has animal welfare advocates and others especially worried.

這讓動物福利倡導者和其他人特別擔心。