你去騎過大象么? 你想過騎大象嗎？馱著人類的大象，真的像看起來那么乖順嗎？在大象對你俯首帖耳、乖巧賣萌時，你有沒有想過它們被馴化時受過的折磨。

對于許多旅行者來說，去東南亞旅行，騎大象已經成了一個必須體驗的項目。或許有人會問，我們能騎馬、騎牛，騎大象有何不妥？

那是因為馬、牛等都是被人類馴化過的家畜，而大象是未經馴化的野生動物。從一個自由的生靈，到任人奴役的搖錢樹，基因決定了它們將忍受煉獄般的痛苦。

下面小編給你5個不騎大象的理由：

1. ELEPHANTS IN THE TOURISM INDUSTRY ARE ABUSED.
旅游業中的大象正在遭受虐待

A wild elephant doesn't naturally allow a human to climb atop its back and trek through the jungle, for hours, every day of the week. It has to be tamed into submission. In Southeast Asia, the process of taming an elephant includes torture and breaking its spirit.
野生大象并不是生來就允許人們爬上他的背每天在叢林中跋涉數小時的。大象經過馴化后才會服從。在東南亞，馴化大象的過程包括身體折磨和精神摧殘。

The ancient tradition is called Phajaan, meaning "the crush." Poachers take the wild baby elephant away from its mother, sometimes killing the protective elephants around the calf.
這種古老的馴象傳統被稱為Phajaan，意思是“徹底粉碎”。偷獵者將野生大象寶寶從媽媽身邊帶走，有時還會殺死保護在小象身邊的大象。

The handlers tie, cage, starve and beat the animal with tools like a metal bull hook until it learns to fear and obey humans.
馴化者們將大象拴起來、關在籠子里、不給他們食物，還用金屬牛角鉤等工具打他們，直到大象學會害怕和服從人類。

There are many graphic videos to prove it, like this one.
有很多視頻可以作證，比如下面這段視頻。

2. GIVING RIDES CAN DAMAGE ELEPHANTS' SPINES.
騎大象會損害大象的脊椎

An elephant's spine is not built to support the weight of a human being. Elephants that carry tourists on their backs for hours every day experience discomfort and can suffer from permanent spinal damage. There is also the added element of the Howdah: the seat that the human sits in atop the elephant. The seat causes irritation against the elephant's skin and can lead to infection.
大象的脊椎并非天生用來承載人類的重量。大象每天將游客背在背上數小時，會感到不適，且脊椎會受到永久性損傷。另一種傷害來自Howdah：人們坐在大象背上的座椅。這種座椅會刺痛大象皮膚，還會導致皮膚感染。

大象雖然身形高大，但一頭成年象背上最多可以承擔150公斤的重量4個小時。

而事實上，許多大象營會在大象背上綁上金屬座椅，通常一次會有至少兩名游客坐在大象背上，而大象一天的工作時間遠不止4個小時。

3. ELEPHANTS ARE SOCIAL, INTELLIGENT CREATURES.
大象是聰明的群居動物

Elephants are very similar to humans. They have family and friends and feel deep emotion. According to Elephant Voices, "elephants are well-known for their intelligence, close family ties and social complexity, and they remember for years other individuals and places."
大象和人類非常相似。他們有家人和朋友，非常有感情。據《大象的聲音》稱，“大象以聰明、家庭關系親密以及社會復雜性而著稱，他們對其他個體和地點的記憶可以儲存多年。”

Not only do elephants remember and feel the pain of torture deeply enough to suffer from post-traumatic stress, but when elephants are brought on trekking camps, they are often ripped away from their herd and forced to live in loneliness.
大象對折磨的痛苦有著深刻的感受和記憶，因而飽受創傷后壓力的折磨，不僅如此，當大象被帶到大象營時，人們通常將他們和象群分離，強迫他們獨自生活。

"Just as we consider solitary confinement as punishment for humans, we should also be thinking that way about elephants," said Stanford professor Caitlin O'Connell in an interview with National Geographic in 2016. "It is not healthy to house elephants by themselves."
2016年，斯坦福大學教授凱特琳?奧康奈爾接受《國家地理》采訪時表示：“正如我們認為單獨禁閉是對人類的懲罰一樣，我們應該想到對于大象也是這樣。讓大象獨居對他們來說是不健康的。”

4. ASIAN ELEPHANTS ARE ENDANGERED.
亞洲大象瀕臨滅絕。

The Asian elephant is on the Red List of Threatened Species. According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature, the population declined more than 50 percent over the last 60 to 75 years. Asian elephants that work in the tourism industry sometimes die from hunger, dehydration and exhaustion. Like captive elephant Sambo, who died in Cambodia earlier this year from a heart attack while giving tourists a ride in 104 degree Fahrenheit heat.
亞洲象被列入《瀕危物種紅色名單》。據國際自然保護聯盟稱，在過去60-75年里。大象的數量減少了50%以上。在旅游行業工作的亞洲象有時會死于饑餓、脫水和疲勞。例如，今年早些時候在柬埔寨，圈養大象桑博在華氏104度（40攝氏度）的高溫下背馱游客時心臟病發作而亡。

5. THERE ARE BETTER, SAFER WAYS TO INTERACT WITH ELEPHANTS.
與大象互動的方式可以更好、更安全

You don't have to visit a camp that promotes elephant rides to interact with these beautiful creatures. There are conservations in Southeast Asia like Boon Lott's Elephant Sanctuary, Elephant Nature Park and Elephant Jungle Sanctuary that save elephants from captivity and allow humans to visit. You can hang out with elephants, and help bathe, feed and observe them. ENP even offers a range of volunteer opportunities for tourists.
你不需要到一個提倡騎大象的營地和這個美麗的生物互動。東南亞有大象保護區，比如，本露特大象庇護所、大象自然公園和大象叢林庇護所，這些地方可以保護大象不被圈養，而且允許人們前來參過。你可以和大象一起閑逛，幫他們洗澡、喂食，觀察他們。大象自然公園甚至為游客提供一系列志愿服務機會。

Dustin Levick, a tourist from Texas, visited the Elephant Jungle Sanctuary in Chiang Mai, Thailand, this month. While there he was able to appreciate the elephants in an ethical way.
這個月，來自德克薩斯州的游客達斯汀?李維科參觀了泰國清邁的大象叢林庇護所。在那里，他能夠以一種不違背道德的方式觀賞大象。

"They are so happy when they go swimming. They just roll around in the water and it's amazing to watch how happy they are," said Levick. "Standing in front of a 55-year-old elephant who weights 2 tons, massaging her trunk with mud as she stands perfectly still, you can't help but feel a connection to such an amazing animal."
李維科說：“大象在游泳的時候真的很開心。他們就在水中打滾，看到他們這么高興真的很棒。站在一頭55歲、2噸重的大象面前，給一動不動的她抹泥巴，你會不由自主地感覺到與這個神奇的動物之間的聯系。”

英文來源：The Cultureist
翻譯&編輯：董靜
審校：yaning