在泰国，随着冠状病毒对旅游业的打击，人们对大象的关注日益增加

在泰国，随着冠状病毒对旅游业的打击，人们对大象的关注日益增加

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月的一个早晨，在泰国北部清迈省的马泰昂大象公园，这些大象和它们的驯象师，被称为“驯象员”，用戏法招待游客。大象用鼻子画图画，然后巧妙地把足球踢进网里。

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.

马泰昂是北方最大的野生动物营地之一，有85头大象。也可供客人在周围的山丘上骑行或徒步旅行。

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.

在正常时期，这是一个利润丰厚的行业。宣传主管达纳普米·阿索克·川酷说，如果天气好的话，这个营地会吸引大约1000名游客，他们大多来自中国或其他亚洲国家。但今天不是好日子。

He counted the crowd with his finger.

他用手指数了数人群。

"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,”他说。

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，泰国宣布由于冠状病毒进入紧急状态，并要求娱乐场所关闭。马泰昂于3月27日关闭。

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.

泰国有近3800头驯养的大象，大多数都被关在这样的营地里，但人们越来越担心这些动物的福利，因为预计这将是一个长期严重的经济困难时期。

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.

马泰昂的总经理波比特·查莱特说，到马泰昂关闭的时候，这个省的大多数营地已经因为缺少顾客而关闭了。他的家族所有的公园比大多数公园都更有优势，有更雄厚的财力来渡过他希望是暂时的困境。但是，他说，时间不等人。

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

他说:“大约5个月或6个月，这是我们能坚持的最长时间。”

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.

那是因为养大象很贵。清迈大学大象与野生动物研究中心的查库特·泰塔姆说，在情况改善之前，你不能像停汽车或旅游巴士那样停它们。

"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."

“大象每天要吃很多东西，大约200到300公斤(440到660磅)，”他说，“所以这意味着你每月要花大约1000美元来喂养它们。”

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

最重要的是雇佣照顾每头大象的驯象员的成本。

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

波比特说，他已经要求营地里的驯象员暂时减薪50%，每月减薪约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."

“他们都同意了，”他说。“因为他们了解现在的情况。他们明白，如果我们不这样做，没有人能在这种紧急情况下生存下来。”

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，“我们必须像以前一样喂它们，因为它们找不到自己的食物。”

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.

由于目前的危机，一些来自泰国北部少数民族地区的驯象员可以回家，让他们的大象在他们家附近的丛林里觅食。但大多数拥有大象并把它们租给营地的驯象员却没有这样的选择，查库特说。

And that has animal welfare advocates and others especially worried.

这让动物福利倡导者和其他人特别担心。