When it comes to the business of moving elephants, Dr. Amir Khalil and his team might be the best.
当谈到运输大象的业务时,阿米尔·哈利勒博士和他的团队可能是最出色的。
The work experience of this Egyptian animal doctor includes possibly the most famous elephant relocation ever.
这位埃及动物医生的工作经历包括可能是有史以来最著名的大象迁移。
In 2020, Khalil’s team saved Kaavan, an Asian elephant, from years of loneliness at a zoo in Pakistan.
2020年,哈利勒的团队将一头亚洲象卡万从巴基斯坦一家动物园多年的孤独中解救出来。
They flew him to Cambodia, where he could live a happier life at an elephant reserve.
他们把他带到柬埔寨,在那里他可以在大象保护区过上更快乐的生活。
At the time, Kaavan was called the “world’s loneliest elephant. ”
当时,卡万被称为“世界上最孤独的大象”。
The relocation project was a great success. But Kaavan was not the only elephant that needed help.
迁移项目取得了巨大成功。但Kaavan并不是唯一需要帮助的大象。
Next on the list was the last captive elephant in South Africa.
接下来是名单上的最后一头被捕获的南非大象。
Charley, an aging African elephant, had outlived all the other elephants at a zoo in Pretoria. The zoo was Charley’s home for more than 20 years.
查利是一头年迈的非洲象,它比在比勒陀利亚一家动物园里的所有其他大象都活得长。这家动物园是查利生活了20多年的家。
Wildlife experts say that elephants are sensitive animals.
野生动物专家说大象是敏感的动物。
And Charley was showing signs of being deeply unhappy since his partner, Landa, died in 2020.
而查理自从他的伴侣兰达于2020年去世后,就表现出了深深的抑郁迹象。
Zoo officials decided he should enjoy his final years in a better place for an old elephant.
动物园官员决定,他应该在一个更适合老年大象的地方享受他的最后几年。
His new home would be a large private game reserve some 200 kilometers away.
他的新家将是一个大型私人禁猎区,距离这里大约200公里。
There, he would be able to make some new elephant friends.
在那里,他将能够结交一些新的大象朋友。
As an animal rescue specialist at the Four Paws wildlife welfare organization, Khalil was a clear choice for this massive job.
作为 Four Paws 野生动物福利组织的动物救援专家,哈利勒是这项艰巨工作的不二人选。
Captured as a young calf in western Zimbabwe in the 1980s, Charley was taken from his herd. He spent 16 years in a South African circus.
查理在20世纪80年代于津巴布韦西部被捕获时还是一头小象,随后它被带离了象群,在南非的一个马戏团里待了16年。
He then spent 23 years as the main attraction at Pretoria’s National Zoological Garden. Zookeepers estimate Charley is 42 years old. He has spent 40 years in captivity.
之后的23年里,它一直是比勒陀利亚国家动物园的主要景点。动物园管理员估计查理已经42岁了。他被囚禁了40年。
“I don’t know how many hundreds of thousands of people and children witnessed and enjoyed Charley,” said Khalil.
“我不知道有几十万人和孩子看到并且享受查利的表演,”哈利勒说。
“I think it’s time for him to also enjoy life and to live as an elephant.”
我认为现在是时候让它也享受生活,像大象一样生活了。
Elephants are highly intelligent, highly social animals, Khalil said.
大象是非常聪明、高度社会化的动物,哈利勒说。
While Charley was unhappy, he could also be naughty and playful.
虽然查利不开心,但他可能也很调皮、爱玩。
Khalil compared Charley’s last few sad years at the zoo to someone watching the same movie every day, alone.
哈利勒把查利在动物园里度过的最后几年悲伤时光比作每天独自地一个人看同一部电影。
The technical parts of moving an elephant to a new home are complex. Khalil does not put the elephants to sleep.
将大象转移到新家的技术部分很复杂。哈利勒并没有让大象睡觉。
This is mainly because it is not good for such a big animal.
这主要是因为,对于如此大的动物来说,这是有害的。
But also, a sleeping elephant is hardly any easier to move.
但是,一头沉睡的大象也很难被移动。
And so, a process began of training an old elephant to step willingly into a large metal transport container.
于是,一个训练老象自愿走进一个大型金属运输容器的过程开始了。
At some point, Khalil and his team would load Charley into this container.
在某个时候,哈利勒和他的团队会把查理装进这个集装箱。
Two other animal doctors, Dr. Marina Ivanova and Dr. Frank Goritz, worked with Khalil as part of the Kaavan relocation team. They first met Charley two years ago.
另外两位动物医生,玛丽娜·伊万诺娃博士和弗兰克·戈里茨博士,作为卡万迁移团队的一员与哈利勒一起工作。他们两年前第一次见到查利。
The meetings were meant to help the doctors decide how ready he was to move.
这些会议的目的是帮助医生决定他是否可以搬家。
They were also meant to help them earn Charley’s trust. The interactions were carefully controlled.
他们也打算帮助他们赢得查利的信任。这些互动是经过仔细控制的。
They involved teaching Charley to respond to calls to walk up to a “training wall” that has spaces in it for the team to offer him a food reward.
其中涉及到教导查利对呼唤做出反应,走到一堵“训练墙”前,墙上有空间供团队给他提供食物奖励。
In Charley’s case, pumpkins, papaya, and beetroot are his favorites.
对查利来说,南瓜、木瓜和甜菜根是他的最爱。
The same process was finally used to attract Charley into the transport container.
然后用同样的过程吸引查利进入运输容器。
It was thought that it might take many months for Charley to learn to step happily into the container.
人们认为,查利可能需要好几个月才能学会快乐地走进容器。
But he was ready to go after less than two weeks of training.
但是,他在不到两周的训练后就准备好出发了。
“He was curious, and thinking, what is this new toy? ” said Ivanova.
“他很好奇,心里想,这个新玩具是什么?”伊万诺娃说。
In late August, after an hours-long road trip on the back of a truck, Charley moved into his new home at the Shambala private game reserve. This is a huge change for Charley.
8月下旬,在卡车后面经过数小时的公路旅行后,查理搬进了他在香巴拉私人野生动物保护区的新家。这对查理来说是一个巨大的变化。
So, he will be held in an area separate from the main park for a few weeks to let him get used to his new home, the team said.
因此,该团队表示,它将被安置在一个与主园区隔开的区域内数周,方便让它适应新家。
The park contains wild elephant herds that Charley may join.
公园里有野生大象群,查理可能会加入它们。
Khalil said it is still very rare for captive elephants to be reintroduced to a wild setting.
哈利勒表示,将圈养大象放归野外环境的情况仍然非常罕见。
He praised zoo and government officials for permitting this project to go ahead.
他赞扬动物园和政府官员允许这个项目继续进行。
“It’s a great message from South Africa that even an old elephant deserves a new chance,” he said.
他说:"这是南非发出的一个伟大信息,即使是一头老象也应该有新的机会。“
At Shambala, Charley will be a wild elephant for the first time in 40 years with thousands of hectares of land to explore. He will have the freedom to take a mud bath.
在香巴拉,查利将在40年来首次成为一头野生大象,拥有数千公顷的土地可供探索。他将自由洗泥浴。
The animal doctors note that elephants are known to have a good memory.
动物医生指出,大象以记忆力好而闻名。
So, Charley may remember his life as a calf before he was captured.
所以,查利可能还记得他被捕前作为小牛的生活。
Charley is already making contact with the other elephants in the park from his holding pen, Ivanova said.
伊万诺娃表示,查利已经在它的围栏里与公园里的其他大象取得了联系。
Elephants use deep rumbles to communicate. Those deep sounds can be heard five kilometers away.
大象使用低沉的隆隆声进行交流。那些低沉的声音在五公里外都能听到。
“I hear him rumbling,” said Ivanova, happily. “We’ll help him turn into a wild elephant again. ”
“我听到他在吼叫,”伊万诺娃高兴地说。“我们会帮助他再次变成一头野生大象。”
I’m Anna Matteo. And I’m Andrew Smith.
我是安娜·马特奥。我是安德鲁·史密斯。