VOA慢速英语2021 中国迁徙大象成为国际网红（在线收听）

Members of an elephant herd making a 500-kilometer trip through southwestern China have become international stars.

行程500公里穿越中国西南部的象群成员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.

这支由15头大象组成的象群在中国已经得到广泛报道。但是现在，大型媒体企业和社交媒体都在记录这个象群的长途迁徙。

The elephants are traveling from their home, in a mountainous area of Yunnan province, toward the city of Kunming.

这些大象从它们位于云南省某个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和推特上随处可见视频片段，展示了这些动物在持续穿越农田、村庄和城郊的路上的一些有趣行为。其中最热门的一个视频片段展示了象群中的成年大象将两只小象从沟里救出来。

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条回复和超过2亿次点击。

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.

这个象群被空中的无人机持续拍摄，也被沿街的治安摄像头所捕捉到。这些大象被一些人追踪，他们试图限制象群造成的破坏，以及确保大象与人类的安全。

While no animals or people have been hurt during the trip, media reports have estimated crop damage to be more than $1 million.

虽然在途中没有动物或人受伤，但媒体报道估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.

大象侵入农家寻找食物和水，闯入了一家汽车销售店，甚至出现在养老院。在养老院里，一些大象试图闯入房间，吓得一名男子藏到了床底下。

Sixteen animals started out in the group. But the government says two returned home and a baby was born during the walk.

最开始象群中有16头大象。但是政府称有两头大象返回了栖息地，然后途中又产下了一头小象。

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，他们不确定究竟是什么原因促使这些大象长途跋涉。然而，它们确实似乎被沿途发现的玉米、水果和其它美味食物所吸引。一些专家表示，这些大象的离开可能是因为头象迷路。

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·贾娅辛格表示，亚洲象忠于自己的家园，除非是环境发生重大变化、资源或发展的缺失。

"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：“在这起案例中，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：“这次可能是因为它们在寻找新栖息地的过程中迷了路并继续前进。”

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缩小。

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.

中国官员已经下令人们呆在室内，不要围观大象，也不要试图用烟花或其它物品将它们驱离。城市官员利用卡车和建筑设备阻止这些大象进入，并抛洒食物让它们远离。

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700万人口的昆明的郊外。该地区官员周一在声明中表示，已经建立了一个指挥中心来监控这群大象。

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.

超过400名救援人员和警察正在待命，有14架无人机正在监控这个象群。附近居民被下令离开该地区，有关官员投放了2吨大象食物。