由于新冠肺炎疫情導(dǎo)致泰國旅游業(yè)收入出現(xiàn)大幅下降，1000多頭大象面臨缺少食物的困境。一些村民把飼養(yǎng)的大象送回保護(hù)區(qū)或賣給動(dòng)物園，甚至送回非法伐木行業(yè)。

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

環(huán)保人士稱，由于新冠肺炎疫情導(dǎo)致旅游業(yè)收入銳減，泰國有超過1000頭大象面臨饑餓困境。

conservationist [?k?ns??ve???n?st]：n.（自然環(huán)境、野生動(dòng)植物等）保護(hù)主義者

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

幾乎完全沒有游客到訪意味著許多看護(hù)員很難負(fù)擔(dān)得起圈養(yǎng)大象的食物。泰國有4000頭圈養(yǎng)大象。

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

大象每天可以吃掉多達(dá)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（3月30日），泰國報(bào)告新增新冠肺炎確診病例127例，確診病例總數(shù)達(dá)到1651例。

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."

拯救大象基金會(huì)的創(chuàng)始人蕾克·查略特告訴英國廣播公司：“如果今后沒有援助來保證它們的安全，這些大象要么餓死，要么就會(huì)被扔到街上乞討，其中一些大象還懷孕了?！?/p>

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.

一些大象可能會(huì)被賣給動(dòng)物園，或被送回非法伐木行業(yè)，該行業(yè)自1989年起正式禁止使用大象。

illicit [??l?s?t]：adj.違法的；不正當(dāng)?shù)?/span>

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

蕾克·查略特補(bǔ)充道：“除非立即得到一些財(cái)政援助，否則前景非常暗淡?！?/p>

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.

即使在最好的情況下，喂養(yǎng)動(dòng)物并保證其健康也不是易事，但現(xiàn)在是旱季，這使得情況更加棘手。

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·麥克雷在泰國北部的夜占管理著一家名為志趣相投的大象保護(hù)區(qū)，她說附近的村民已經(jīng)把大約七頭大象帶回了她的保護(hù)區(qū)，因?yàn)樗麄兪チ寺糜螛I(yè)收入。

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

“喂大象是首要任務(wù)，但問題是森林不夠用，”她解釋說。

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.

麥克雷女士來自北愛爾蘭，也是保護(hù)區(qū)的聯(lián)合創(chuàng)始人，她每天要開車3個(gè)小時(shí)去尋找足夠的草和玉米秸稈來喂養(yǎng)她照顧的5頭大象。

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

她說，當(dāng)?shù)氐拇笙罂醋o(hù)員也不得不這樣做。

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.

泰國已被迫對(duì)所有游客關(guān)閉邊境，國內(nèi)大部分地區(qū)也已封鎖。泰國的經(jīng)濟(jì)增長通常很大程度上依賴于旅游業(yè)。

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·麥克雷說，快樂的大象通常會(huì)擺動(dòng)尾巴或者拍打耳朵，甚至?xí)o自己洗個(gè)泥漿浴來保持涼爽。但是大象餓的時(shí)候會(huì)很沮喪，不會(huì)表現(xiàn)出快樂。

"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."

“最糟糕的情況是，大象的主人將不得不在自己和大象之間做出選擇，”麥克雷女士表示?！斑@里的人沒有多少錢，但他們正在盡一切努力讓大象活下去?！?/p>

英文來源：BBC

翻譯&編輯：yaning