VOA新闻杂志2024--How to Move an Elephant

When it comes to the business of moving elephants, Dr. Amir Khalil and his team might be the best. The work experience of this Egyptian animal doctor includes possibly the most famous elephant relocation ever.

In 2020, Khalil's team saved Kaavan, an Asian elephant, from years of loneliness at a zoo in Pakistan. They flew him to Cambodia, where he could live a happier life at an elephant reserve.

At the time, Kaavan was called the "world's loneliest elephant." The relocation project was a great success. But Kaavan was not the only elephant that needed help.

Next on the list was the last captive¹ elephant in South Africa.

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. Wildlife experts say that elephants are sensitive animals. And Charley was showing signs of being deeply unhappy since his partner, Landa, died in 2020.

Zoo officials decided² he should enjoy his final years in a better place for an old elephant. His new home would be a large private game reserve some 200 kilometers away. There, he would be able to make some new elephant friends.

As an animal rescue specialist at the Four Paws wildlife welfare organization, Khalil was a clear choice for this massive³ job.

Charley's story

Captured as a young calf⁴ in western Zimbabwe in the 1980s, Charley was taken from his herd⁵. He spent 16 years in a South African circus. 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 captivity⁶.

"I don't know how many hundreds of thousands of people and children witnessed and enjoyed Charley," said Khalil. "I think it's time for him to also enjoy life and to live as an elephant."

Elephants are highly intelligent, highly social animals, Khalil said. While Charley was unhappy, he could also be naughty and playful. Khalil compared Charley's last few sad years at the zoo to someone watching the same movie every day, alone.

The technical parts of moving an elephant to a new home are complex. Khalil does not put the elephants to sleep. This is mainly because it is not good for such a big animal. But also, a sleeping elephant is hardly any easier to move.

And so, a process began of training an old elephant to step willingly into a large metal transport container. At some point, Khalil and his team would load Charley into this container.

Two other animal doctors, Dr. Marina Ivanova and Dr. Frank G?ritz, worked with Khalil as part of the Kaavan relocation team. They first met Charley two years ago. The meetings were meant to help the doctors decide how ready he was to move. They were also meant to help them earn Charley's trust.

The interactions were carefully controlled. 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. In Charley's case, pumpkins⁷, papaya, and beetroot are his favorites.

The same process was finally used to attract Charley into the transport container. It was thought that it might take many months for Charley to learn to step happily into the container. But he was ready to go after less than two weeks of training.

"He was curious, and thinking, what is this new toy?" said Ivanova.

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. 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. The park contains wild elephant herds⁸ that Charley may join.

Khalil said it is still very rare for captive elephants to be reintroduced to a wild setting. He praised zoo and government officials for permitting this project to go ahead.

"It's a great message from South Africa that even an old elephant deserves a new chance," he said.

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. The animal doctors note that elephants are known to have a good memory. So, Charley may remember his life as a calf before he was captured.

Charley is already making contact with the other elephants in the park from his holding pen, Ivanova said. Elephants use deep rumbles¹⁰ to communicate. Those deep sounds can be heard five kilometers away.

"I hear him rumbling," said Ivanova, happily. "We'll help him turn into a wild elephant again."

Words in This Story

reserve -n. an area of land set apart

sensitive -adj. easily or strongly affected¹¹ or hurt : readily¹² affected or changed by the action of a certain thing

herd -n. a number of animals of one kind kept or living together

attraction -n. something that pleases or draws people in

naughty -adj. behaving badly or improperly¹³

train -v. to form by instruction, discipline, or drill : training -n.

respond -v. to react in response

curious -adj. marked by desire to investigate and learn

deserve -v. to be worthy¹⁴ of

rumble⁹ -v. to make a low heavy rolling sound

1 captive   

adj.被俘虏的，不得自由行动的，被监禁的

参考例句：

• They led him captive.他们将他活捉。
• The rock star had a captive audience.那位摇滚歌星倾倒了许多观众。

2 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

3 massive   

adj.巨大的，大规模的，大量的，大范围的

参考例句：

• A massive sea search has failed to find any survivors.经过大规模的海上搜救仍未找到幸存者。
• He drank a massive amount of alcohol.他喝了大量的烈酒。

4 calf   

n.小牛，犊，幼仔，小牛皮

参考例句：

• The cow slinked its calf.那头母牛早产了一头小牛犊。
• The calf blared for its mother.牛犊哞哞地高声叫喊找妈妈。

5 herd   

n.兽群，牧群；vt.使集中，把…赶在一起

参考例句：

• She drove the herd of cattle through the wilderness.她赶着牛群穿过荒野。
• He had no opinions of his own but simply follow the herd.他从无主见，只是人云亦云。

6 captivity   

n.囚禁；被俘；束缚

参考例句：

• A zoo is a place where live animals are kept in captivity for the public to see.动物园是圈养动物以供公众观看的场所。
• He was held in captivity for three years.他被囚禁叁年。

7 pumpkins   

n.南瓜( pumpkin的名词复数 )；南瓜的果肉，南瓜囊

参考例句：

• I like white gourds, but not pumpkins. 我喜欢吃冬瓜，但不喜欢吃南瓜。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Then they cut faces in the pumpkins and put lights inside. 然后在南瓜上刻出一张脸，并把瓜挖空。 来自英语晨读30分（高三）

8 herds   

兽群( herd的名词复数 )； 牧群； 人群； 群众

参考例句：

• Regularly at daybreak they drive their herds to the pasture. 每天天一亮他们就把牲畜赶到草场上去。
• There we saw herds of cows grazing on the pasture. 我们在那里看到一群群的牛在草地上吃草。

9 rumble   

n.隆隆声；吵嚷；v.隆隆响；低沉地说

参考例句：

• I hear the rumble of thunder in the distance.我听到远处雷声隆隆。
• We could tell from the rumble of the thunder that rain was coming.我们根据雷的轰隆声可断定，天要下雨了。

10 rumbles   

隆隆声，辘辘声( rumble的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• If I hear any rumbles I'll let you know. 我要是听到什么风声就告诉你。
• Three blocks away train rumbles by. 三个街区以外，火车隆隆驶过。

11 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

12 readily   

adv.欣然地，容易地，很快地，立即

参考例句：

• I promise all costs will be readily returned.我保证所有的费用会迅速偿还。
• Most plastics do not readily conduct heat or electricity.大多数塑料不易传热或导电。

13 improperly   

不正确地，不适当地

参考例句：

• Of course it was acting improperly. 这样做就是不对嘛！
• He is trying to improperly influence a witness. 他在试图误导证人。

14 worthy   

adj.(of)值得的，配得上的；有价值的

参考例句：

• I did not esteem him to be worthy of trust.我认为他不值得信赖。
• There occurred nothing that was worthy to be mentioned.没有值得一提的事发生。