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Keeping wild animals contained and available for human enjoyment isn’t a modern phenomenon.
将野生动物圈养起来供人类观赏并不是现代才有的现象。
There’s evidence that rulers in ancient Egypt had what they called menageries and a Chinese emperor in the 11th century B.C.E. cultivated a “garden of intelligence.”
有证据表明，古埃及的统治者就拥有他们所谓的动物园了；公元前11世纪的一位中国皇帝也曾修建一个“智慧生物园林”。
The conditions of those places were, as you might imagine, generally pretty bad: wild animals were captured from their native environments and cared for by people with little to no awareness of their typical diets and behaviors.
正如你可能想象的那样，那些地方的条件通常相当糟糕：野生动物被从原生环境捕获，并由对它们的典型饮食和行为习惯几乎一无所知的人照顾。
And conditions in zoos more or less stayed this bleak for a long time.
很长一段时间里，动物园或多或少地保持着这种惨淡状况。
Things started to shift in the late 1800s, with the introduction of positive reinforcement, a philosophy often attributed to a guy named Carl Hagenbeck.
19世纪末，随着正向强化理论的引入，情况开始发生变化。该理论通常认为是由卡尔·哈根贝克提出。
He was a German merchant who supplied animals to zoos, circuses and such.
他是一位德国商人，为动物园、马戏团等提供动物。
While Hagenbeck engaged in some questionable practices, he eventually took up the cause of humane animal treatment.
虽然哈根贝克曾从事一些有问题的活动，但他最终还是投身于人道善待动物的事业。
And this was totally radical at the time.
而这在当时是相当激进的行为。
Instead of forcing an animal to do something, which often involves physical or emotional abuse, you coax them into the behavior with a reward.
不再强迫动物做某事，因为这通常涉及身体或情感上的虐待。相反，你用奖励来诱导它们做出动作。
Positive reinforcement means that, ultimately, the animal can do what it wants.
正向强化意味着，最终，动物可以做它想做的事。
If that behavior aligns with what the trainer wants, then the animal gets a treat or some other sort of reward.
如果行为与训练员的期望一致，动物就会得到零食或其他形式的奖励。
And if the behavior differs from what the trainer asks for, well, then the animal doesn’t get a reward.
如果行为与训练员的要求不同，动物就得不到奖励。
Zoos that train using positive reinforcement generally have a barrier between a trainer and any of the larger, more dangerous animals.
使用正向强化理论训练的动物园，通常会在训练员和任何较大、较危险的动物之间设置一道屏障。
This helps protect the trainer and gives an animal the chance to decide whether they want to participate in the activity.
这有助于保护训练员，以及给动物一个机会来决定它们是否想参与活动。
When I was an intern I saw that with almost every animal in my zoo: there was a barrier between the large, dangerous animals and people.
当还是一名实习生的时候，我看到在我的动物园里，几乎所有的动物都是这样的：在大型、危险的动物和人类之间都有一道屏障。
At the time I didn’t pay too much attention to it.
当时我并没有太在意它。
But later on, while visiting other zoos and animal sanctuaries and seeing no barriers, I started to realize just how interesting this approach, known as protected contact, really is.
但后来，在参观其他动物园和动物保护区，我看到没有屏障时，我开始意识到这种被称为保护接触的方法是多么有趣。
It’s not only there to keep the caretakers safe; it’s also there to keep the elephants safe.
这不仅是为了保护饲养员的安全；也是为了保护大象的安全。
The barrier often takes the form of a fence or some other type of divider between the animal and the person.
屏障通常是一道围栏，或者是在动物和人之间的其他类型的分隔物。
There are openings or even little trapdoors in the barrier so medical procedures can be performed, but having this separation means the animal is always choosing to participate.
屏障上有开口，甚至小活板门，以便进行医疗救治，但这种分隔意味着动物选择是否参与。
So what protected contact means is the use of positive-reinforcement training.
因此，保护接触意味着使用正向强化训练。
Generally, when you’re initially training an animal, you’re using target poles, so you’re teaching them to move a body part toward a target instead of away.
一般来说，最初训练动物时，你会使用目标杆，是在教它们将身体的一部分移向目标，而不是远离目标。
And then they get reinforced with a whistle, also known as a bridge; that’s our way to communicate with the animal, “Yes, that’s what I want”. “Good job.”
然后它们会得到一声哨声的强化，这个哨声也被称为桥梁；这是我们与动物交流的方式，“是的，这就是我想要的。干得好。
The Oakland Zoo has used only protected contact with their elephants since 1991.
自1991年以来，奥克兰动物园对大象只进行保护接触训练。
But the facility was ahead of the curve.
但该机构的做法遥遥领先。
It was only in 2014 that the Association of Zoos and Aquariums, an accreditation organization that sets standards for animal care and training, began requiring the use of protected contact with elephants in most cases.
直到2014年，动物园和水族馆协会，一个为动物护理和训练设定标准的认证组织，才开始在大多数情况下要求在大象训练中使用保护接触。
Even beyond its elephants the Oakland Zoo embraces a positive-reinforcement philosophy.
甚至对于大象之外的动物，奥克兰动物园也秉持着正向强化的理念。
But not every zoo or aquarium in the world trains this way.
但并非世界上的每一个动物园或水族馆都以这种方式训练。
What about all the places that don’t belong to forward-thinking organizations such as the AZA?
那么，那些不属于像美国动物园和水族馆协会（AZA）这样具有前瞻性思维的组织的地方呢？
How’s an animal lover to know if they’re supporting the right kinds of institutions?
动物爱好者如何知道他们是否在支持正确的机构呢？
I asked Gina for tips.
我向吉娜寻求建议。
If people are traveling, I always just tell people to do their research and see what they can find out about whatever places that they’re visiting.
如果人们正在旅行，我总是告诉他们要做调查，看看他们能否找到关于他们正在访问的地方的相关信息。
Something we commonly get asked is, “What about, like, the sanctuaries that give rides?”
我们经常被问到的一个问题是，“那些提供骑乘服务的庇护所怎么样？”
And I think my question back to them is always, “Well, elephants aren’t domesticated animals, and it’s not something that is natural for them.
我总会反问他们，“大象不是驯养的动物，骑乘对它们来说是不自然的。”
So you have to question for yourself: Is that something that you’re okay with?”
所以你必须要问自己：你对此没有意见吗？
