China’s Traveling Elephants Become International Stars
中国云南北迁象群引发全球关注
Members of an elephant herd making a 500-kilometer trip through southwestern China have become international stars.
在中国西南部徒步500公里的象群已经成为了国际明星。
The 15-member herd was already receiving wide coverage in China. But now, the group's long trip is being documented by major media companies and on social media.
在中国，关于这支由15头大象组成的象群的报道铺天盖地。不过现在，大型媒体公司和社交媒体都在记录这支象群的长途迁徙。
The elephants are traveling from their home, in a mountainous area of Yunnan province, toward the city of Kunming.
这些大象正从其位于云南某山区的栖息地出发前往昆明。
YouTube and Twitter are full of video clips showing interesting behavior of the animals as they continue their path across farmland, villages and around cities. One of the most popular clips showed two young elephants being helped out of a ditch by older members of the group.
YouTube和推特上随处可见关于大象在穿越田野、村庄以及城郊时一些有趣行为的视频片段。其中最受欢迎的一段视频是成年大象施救陷在沟里的两只小象。
The elephants have also drawn widespread attention on China's Weibo social media service. Pictures of the group sleeping received 25,000 posts and more than 200 million views.
这些大象在中国社交媒体网站微博上也引发了广泛关注。象群睡觉的照片获得了25000条评论和超过2亿次观看。
The herd has been filmed continuously from the sky by drones and caught on security cameras walking down city streets. The elephants are being followed by individuals seeking to limit damage from the animals and to keep them and people safe.
空中无人机对象群进行跟踪拍摄，沿街的治安摄像头也捕捉到了象群的活动迹象。为了降低象群在沿途造成的破坏，以及确保大象和人类的安全，一些人正在跟踪这群大象。
While no animals or people have been hurt during the trip, media reports have estimated crop damage to be more than $1 million.
虽然沿途没有动物或人受伤，但媒体报道预计农作物损失超过了100万美元。
The elephants have invaded farms looking for food and water, visited a car dealership and even showed up at a retirement home. At the home, some elephants attempted to visit rooms, leading one man to hide under his bed.
大象们进入农村寻找食物和水，闯入了一家汽车销售店，甚至还现身养老院。在养老院内，一些大象试图闯入房间，一名男子被吓得躲在床下。
Sixteen animals started out in the group. But the government says two returned home and a baby was born during the walk.
起初象群中有16头大象。但是政府称，有两头大象返回了栖息地，然后一头小象在迁徙途中出生。
Officials in China say they are not sure exactly what persuaded the elephants to make their long trip. They do, however, seem to be drawn to corn, fruits and other tasty crops they find along the way. Some experts say the elephants might have left because their leader might have gotten lost.
中国官员表示，他们不确定促使这些大象长途跋涉的原因。然而，它们似乎的确是被沿途的玉米、水果和其它美味食物所吸引。一些专家表示，这些大象迁徙可能是因为领头的大象迷路了。
Asian elephants are loyal to their home areas unless there have major changes to the environment, a loss of resources or development, said Nilanga Jayasinghe, of the World Wildlife Fund.
世界野生动物基金会的尼兰加·贾娅辛格（Nilanga Jayasinghe）表示，亚洲象都会忠于自己的家园，除非环境发生巨大变化、资源流失或发展缺失。
"In this case, we don't really know why they left their home range," she told The Associated Press. She added that the area where they lived had seen major "habitat loss" linked to agriculture expansion.
她对美联社表示：“在这起事件中，我们确实不知道它们为何离开家园。”她还表示，它们生活的区域出现了一些与农业扩张有关的重大栖息地流失。
"What possibly happened here is that in their search for new habitat, they got lost along the way and kept going," Jayasinghe added.
贾娅辛格表示：“可能是它们在寻找新的栖息地的过程中迷路并继续前进。”
Elephants are given the top level of protection in China. This permits their numbers to continually increase even as their natural habitat shrinks.
大象在中国享有最高级别的保护。这使得它们的数量持续增长，即便它们的栖息地在减少。
Chinese officials have ordered people to stay inside and not to look at the elephants or try to keep them away with fireworks or other things. Officials in cities have used trucks and building equipment to block the animals from entering and have dropped food to keep them away.
中国官员已经下令民众避免外出，不要围观大象，也不要试图用烟花或其它物品驱赶大象。城市官员利用卡车和建筑设备截堵大象，并利用投掷食物的方式让它们远离。
As of Tuesday, the herd remained outside Kunming, a city of 7 million people. Officials in the area said in a statement Monday a command center had been set up to watch the elephants.
截至周二，这个象群仍然在拥有700万人口的昆明郊外逗留。该地区官员周一在声明中表示，已经成立了一个指挥中心来观测象群。
More than 400 emergency workers and police were standing by and the herd was being watched by 14 drones. People living nearby were ordered to leave the area and officials put out 2 tons of elephant food.
400多名救援人员和警察正原地待命，14架无人机正在持续观测象群。附近居民被下令撤离该地区，有关官员给大象投放了2吨食物。