斯里蘭卡政府在“病象”照片走紅后,下令徹查

斯里蘭卡政府在“病象”照片走紅后,下令徹查

Sri Lankan officials have ordered an investigation into the care of a 70-year-old “ailing” elephant used for a Buddhist celebration in Sri Lanka following the animal’s collapse.

斯里蘭卡官員下令對(duì)一頭70歲的“患病”大象的照料情況進(jìn)行調(diào)查。這頭大象死前曾被用于斯里蘭卡的佛教慶?；顒?dòng)。

It comes after festival organizers were forced to pull the elephant from work earlier this week, according to Agence France-Presse, following international protests on social media and a petition that has already garnered more than 35,000 signatures.

據(jù)法新社報(bào)道，本周早些時(shí)候，國(guó)際社會(huì)在社交媒體上舉行了抗議活動(dòng)，一份請(qǐng)?jiān)笗呀?jīng)獲得了逾3.5萬個(gè)簽名。之后，電影節(jié)組織者被迫將這頭大象帶下了工作崗位。

"I have been informed that the elephant collapsed yesterday. Considering what has transpired, I have ordered officials to initiate an inquiry and ascertain how and why an elephant in such poor health was used in the (pageant) and to take necessary action against those responsible,” tourism and wildlife minister John Amaratunga reportedly said in a statement. IFLScience sent an email to Amaratunga but had not received a response at the time of publication.

“我聽說大象昨天倒下了。”據(jù)報(bào)道，旅游和野生動(dòng)物部長(zhǎng)約翰·阿馬拉通加在一份聲明中說:“考慮到所發(fā)生的一切，我已下令展開調(diào)查，查明一頭健康狀況如此糟糕的大象是如何以及為何被用于選美比賽，并對(duì)相關(guān)責(zé)任人采取必要的行動(dòng)。”IFLScience向Amaratunga發(fā)送了一封電子郵件，但在發(fā)表時(shí)沒有收到回復(fù)。

Tikiri is one of 60 elephants participating in the Buddhist Perahera Festival this year at the Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic in Kandy, Sri Lanka. It’s not the first time the temple has come under fire for its care of elephants. A 2012 BBC report found that festival organizers resorted to restraining unruly and sometimes violent elephant participants in chains. However, in Buddhist and Hindu cultures, elephants are revered and have been celebrated in religious ceremonies for centuries.

Tikiri是今年在斯里蘭卡Kandy的圣牙舍利寺參加佛教Perahera節(jié)的60頭大象之一。這已經(jīng)不是這座寺廟第一次因虐待大象而受到批評(píng)了。英國(guó)廣播公司2012年的一篇報(bào)道發(fā)現(xiàn)，節(jié)日組織者采取措施限制不守規(guī)矩、有時(shí)甚至是暴力的大象參與者。然而，在佛教和印度教文化中，大象受到尊敬，幾個(gè)世紀(jì)以來，大象一直在宗教儀式中參與慶?；顒?dòng)。

“Tikiri joins in the parade early every evening until late at night every night for 10 consecutive nights, amidst the noise, the fireworks, and smoke,” wrote Save Elephant Foundation in a Facebook post. “She walks many kilometers every night so that people will feel blessed during the ceremony. No one sees her bony body or her weakened condition, because of her costume.

拯救大象基金會(huì)在臉書上的一篇帖子中寫道:“Tikiri每天晚上都早早地加入游行隊(duì)伍，直到深夜，連續(xù)10個(gè)晚上，在嘈雜、煙火和煙霧中。”“她每天晚上都要走很多公里，這樣人們?cè)趦x式上就會(huì)感到幸福。因?yàn)樗姆b，沒有人看到她骨瘦如柴的身體。

“No one sees the tears in her eyes, injured by the bright lights that decorate her mask, no one sees her difficulty to step as her legs are short shackled while she walks,” said the foundation.

該基金會(huì)表示:“沒有人看到她眼中的淚水，沒有人看到她被裝飾面具的強(qiáng)光傷害，也沒有人看到她走路時(shí)因?yàn)橥榷潭鵁o法邁步。”

It is not immediately apparent exactly what is wrong with the elephant. Some commenters are quick to point out that the animal may in fact be frail from age or otherwise suffering from an illness – Sri Lankan elephants have a lifespan of between 55 and 70 years old. Regardless of her health status, some contend that an elephant of her age should not be working at all.

目前還不清楚大象到底出了什么問題。一些評(píng)論者很快指出，這種動(dòng)物可能由于年老或者其他疾病而虛弱——斯里蘭卡大象的壽命在55到70歲之間。不管她的健康狀況如何，有些人認(rèn)為她這么大的大象根本不應(yīng)該工作。