一篇约稿——关于人象冲突

原文由卡尔·阿曼（Karl Ammann）提供，笔者作简单翻译。卡尔是环保人士、记者、作者，在肯尼亚生活40余年，出版动物类书籍十余部。今年75岁的他依旧活跃在一线做调查。

卡尔慷慨地为我提供了很多珍贵的大象照片，收录在我的大象故事《我们的旅程》和《两头大象的大冒险》中。下文是他应我约稿的回复，简单谈论了关于人象冲突的问题。

Having lived in East Africa for more than 40 years. I have always been fascinated by elephants seeking them out whenever I went on safari trips. Some 34 years ago we moved to a piece of land bordering Mt. Kenya National Park and Forest Reserve and we regularly started hearing elephants trumpeting in the forest. We then put out salt on a piece of land just below our home. It took almost ten years before some of the pachyderms inhabiting this part of the forest found the salt and started coming regularly and by now, we often have groupings of 30-40 and they sometimes stay around for a few hours.

在东非生活了40 多年，每当外出旅行时，我总是对大象格外着迷，会四处搜寻它们。大约34 年前，我们搬到了一块毗邻肯尼亚山国家公园和森林保护区的地方，在那里经常听到大象在森林中发出的号声。 后来我们把一些盐埋在了家下面的一块土地里。大约花了十年时间，栖息在森林中的大象才发现那些盐，并开始定期造访。现在我们家周边活动有30 到 40头非洲象，有时它们会停留几个小时。

A lot of time we hear them before we see them. Other times wenotice them first on our CCTV set up since we have a camera overlooking this salt lick. We then go out on our verandah and watch and photograph them for hours. In the meantime, we recognize some of them mostly by their tusks and at certain times a year there are birth peaks and the cows bring a number of new calves.

很多时候我们是先听到声音，然后才能看到它们。其他时候我们会先在监控摄像上注意到它们造访盐池，随后再去到阳台上观察并拍摄它们几个小时。与此同时，我们会通过其象牙形态来个体识别它们。到每年的特定时期会出现生育高峰，母象会带来许多新生的小象。

Of course, here in Kenya as in most other African elephant range stateswe read in the newspapers about human elephant conflict – elephants crop raiding and interacting aggressively with villagers when encountering them. However, our resident groupings seem to have little problem with humans and only once did they damage property.

在肯尼亚，就像在非洲其他大象分布区一样，我们能在报纸上读到有关人象冲突的报道——大象掠食农作物，并在遇到村民时与他们发生侵犯性的互动。然而，活动在我们居住地的野象似乎与人类没有什么问题，它们只短暂损坏过一处设备。

We have our residence fenced in with chain link wiring and a few strands of electrical wire on top - this we did mostly to deter leopards which, in the initial years, had come over the chain link fence and killed our dogs and took them down into the forest. On one occasion a group of elephants really took a liking to the leaves and branches of one tree just within the fenced in section and he or they did push down the fence and triggering an alarm. The next day we fixed the fencebut it did not make a difference and the herd was back the next day opened up the same section again and pretty much finished off the tree in question.

我们用铁丝网和上层的几股电线围住了住所。这样做主要是为了阻止豹子翻过铁丝网，它们在最初几年曾杀死了我们的狗，并将它们带进了森林里。后来有一次，一群大象看上了围栏内一棵树的叶子和树枝，它们推倒了一处围栏并触发了警报。 第二天我们修好了围栏，但第三天象群又回来了，再次破坏了相同位置的围栏，几乎吃光了那棵树的树枝。

We then learnt that many elephants on Laikipiahad started to adapt to electric fencing and since pretty much all the African elephants have tusks, they also learned to use them to push over the fence post using the tusks which seems to isolate them from getting any shocks. We cut that tree down and put the fence back up and they have not been interacting with the fence since.

当时我们了解到，莱基皮亚的许多大象已经适应了电围栏。由于当地几乎所有非洲象都有象牙，它们自然学会了用牙推倒围栏支柱，这样可以使它们免受任何电击。后来我们砍倒了那棵树，重新修缮了围栏。从那以后，大象再没有与围栏发生过互动。

Myself and the gardenershave encountered them out in the open on several occasions and generally they shake their heads and send a message that they see us but they have y never turned aggressive as long as we give way when we see them. On one occasion I was walking on a forest path with two dogs. One a Jack Russell. He heard the elephants in the distance and so did I. While I walked my way backwards the Jack Russell decided to investigate. Next I heard him barking and then crashing in the forest, he got the herd upset and they had started chasing him and he came running back towards me.

我和园艺工们曾在户外多次遇见大象，它们通常会震头发出信息，表明它们感知到了我们。只要我们给它们让路，它们就不会表现攻击性。有一次，我带着两只狗在森林小路上散步，其中一只是杰克罗素梗，名叫Redge。 Redge听到了远处大象的声音，同时我也听到了。 当时我已动身返回，但它决定自行前往调查。接下来我听到了它在森林中的吠叫，以及一些撞击声。象群被Redge弄得不安，开始追它。随后Redge朝我的方向跑了回来。

I did manage to get up a nearby tree and the Redge (the dog’s name) passed below me with one elephant in pursuit. They did not even see me. When the air was clear I climbed down and took a parallel track to get back to the house where Redge was waiting. The elephants had gone and I concluded that they had had lots of fun chasing our little guy.

我当时已经爬上了不远处的一棵树。Redge从我下面经过，同时有一头大象在追赶它。 它们没有注意到我。当空气、尘土稳定下来后，我爬下了树，沿着平行的另一条小路回了家，Redge正在等着我。大象已经离开了，我猜它们在追逐我们的小家伙时玩得很开心。

So, in living with elephants for over 30 yearswe never had any real problems with our big neighbors. I assume things could be different if we decided to plant fruit or other food crop which the elephants also like. However, we are lucky. We buy our vegetables in the store and do not end up having any conflict scenario, even when it comes to the baboons, the buffaloes, the waterbuck etc. which are also regular visitors to our salt lick.

因此，与大象一起生活了30 多年，我们与这些大邻居们之间从未发生过任何真正的问题。如果我们决定种植大象也喜欢的水果或其他粮食作物，情况可能会不同。我们都是在商店里买食物，所以幸运地没有与任何动物发生过冲突，包括狒狒、水牛、水羚等盐池常客。

However, in theforty years we have lived in Kenya the human population has tripled and more farmers clear more and more areas for farm land which used to be part of the original elephant range and then conflicts develop quite regularly. In these cases, the humans generally believe they are in their right to try to chase the elephants and they use whatever at their disposition to make their point. This then can turn nasty; elephants get hurt and quite often humans as well with occasional fatality.

然而，在我们生活在肯尼亚的四十年里，世界人口翻了两倍，农民毁林制造了越来越多的农田，那些森林过去都是野象活动范围的一部分。因此冲突更频繁地发生了。在这种趋势下，人类普遍认为他们有权利驱赶大象，并且利用一切可以利用的手段来表达自己的立场。情况逐渐变得很糟糕，大象会受伤，人也经常受伤，偶尔还有人在冲突中死亡。

We have set up a special fund at the local private hospitalfor farmers and herdsmen to get treated free of charge in case of human wildlife interactions. As such we get the statistics of treatment issues and costs and as it stands there are a lot more cases of snake bites and buffalo attaching herdsmen than their serious encounters with elephants.

我们在当地私立医院设立了专项基金，供农、牧民在与野生动物发生冲突时免费接受治疗。 因此，我们得到了医疗和费用相关问题的统计数据。结果上看，蛇咬伤以及水牛与牧民冲突的案例远比与大象相关的严重冲突要多。

However, the human elephant conflict is still an issue in most of the range states of the elephant population even in Kenya with many of the national parks to be too small to contain large groupings over long periods of time andthem still remembering their old migration corridors which they keep trying to use. However, many are now blocked by roads, homes and fields and it seems that elephants have a hard time to comprehend what has changed and why they are no longer welcome in areas which they have considered home for many generations.

人象冲突仍然是大象分布国的重要问题，包括在肯尼亚。许多国家公园太小，无法长期承载大量的象群。而且大象仍然记得它们古老的迁移路线， 并不断在尝试沿用那些路线。 然而，许多路线现在被道路、房屋和农田所切断，大象似乎很难理解发生了什么变化，也很难理解为什么它们几代视为家园的地区不再欢迎它们。

Often theauthorities in charge of dealing with human wildlife conflict and encroachment come under serious pressure to react if there has been some raiding of plantations or the death of villager trying to defend his or her crop. On one such mission I went with the warden of the Mt. Kenya National Park to investigate such a case. We investigated maize fields which had suffered when a group of elephants had come out of the protected area and invaded a nearby village and farm. The villagers demanded immediate action and the representative of Kenya Wildlife Services decided that he had no choice but to embark on what was essentially was a PR exercise. We tracked into the forest looking at elephant droppings until we found some fresh dung which had kernels of maize in it which was considered enough evidence of crop raiding and further tracking resulted in the respective male being shot.

通常，当发生了大象侵田或是农户因保卫农田而死亡的事件时，负责处理人与野生动物冲突和侵入问题的当局会面临巨大的压力。在一次处理人象冲突的任务中，我和肯尼亚山国家公园的巡守长一起调查了一个事件，一群大象离开保护区并入侵了附近的村庄和农场，致使一块玉米田遭受了损失。村民要求当局立即采取行动，肯尼亚野生动物服务司的代表知道他别无选择，只能开展一场本质上是公关活动的行动。 我们追踪大象进入森林，观察大象的粪便，直到发现一些含有玉米粒的新鲜粪便，这被认为是盗食农作物的充分证据。追踪最终的结果是，肇事的雄性被枪杀。

The villagers were informed that this crop raiderhad been eliminated. They also were told they now had the right to the meat and soon groups arrived with wheel barrows and large knifes and machetes. After cutting into the belly a fight erupted among the excited villagers over a white skin link substance they pulled out. The warden explained that the stomach lining in this part of Kenya had a special medicinal value as far as the inhabitants of the area and that is what they were fighting over while the rest of carcasses was still pretty much intact. I was amazed that this knowledge was still there in an area where elephant poaching was no longer an issue and supposedly few of the farmers living in the area got regular opportunities to see or cut up a carcass.

村民们被告知，侵田象已经被消灭了，同时他们有权获得象肉。很快便有一群人推着独轮车、带着砍刀来到了现场。切开腹部后，兴奋的村民们因争抢某种白色皮状物爆发了一场争斗。 巡守长解释说，冲突的原因是当地的居民认可象胃壁具有特殊的药用价值。而尸体的其他部位是放在第二位的。 令我惊讶的是，在大象盗猎不再是问题的地区，这种知识仍然存在。据说当地只有极少的农民有机会看到或切割大象的尸体。

Last year I wason safari in the north some two hours from home. When I got near the tented camp, we saw some rangers standing at the river’s edge. When we drove up there was a large male elephant laying partially in the water and when discussing the reason for its demise it was clear that some of his last steps had involved sliding on the muddy ground before he fell and died. I found it hard to accept that what looked like another wise healthy elephant would just fall over not trying to get up again and expiring on the spot.

去年，我在离家大约两小时车程的北部地区观赏动物。当我们接近帐篷营地时，看到一些巡护员站在河边。我们开车过去时，发现一头巨大的雄象半身躺在水中。关于死亡原因，他最后的活动明显是滑倒在了泥泞的地面上，之后便再没有起来。 一头智慧、健康的大象摔死了，这让我很难接受。

In the afternoon the rangers were back with their pangas (machetes) and it was now a question of cutting out the tusks and sending them for safe storage before any third partycame across the carcass and decided that this was a unique opportunity to get hold of soma valuable ivory. This appears to happen quite regularly with herdsman in remote areas finding the skeleton of elephants which probably died a natural death. The hacking went on for hours and I was really surprised how much work was involved to get the tusks out. When they did come out it also became apparent how fare and deep, they are embedded in the jaw bone of the elephant, essentially being a tooth. The next step was shaking out the nerve which was a whitish tissue in cylindrical form maybe about 60 -70 cm long and weighing several kilos.

下午，护林员带着他们的大砍刀回来了，要在任何第三方发现尸体并试图获得象牙前，将象牙切下来并将它们送到安全之处储存。自然死亡大象的象牙被当地牧民获取的情况经常发生，它们进入黑市会给执法系统带来巨大影响。 护林员持续砍了几个小时，我惊讶于为取出象牙需要付出多少工作。当象牙被取出时，我们可以清楚地看出它们嵌入大象头骨的深度。它们本质上只是牙齿。之后还要震出牙中的神经，一些圆柱形的白色组织，长约60 -70 厘米，重达几公斤。

I shot lots of interesting images of how humans deal with an elephant carcass and what the decided to be their main interest. With the tusks carted away the elephant was left on the ground on the edge of the river bed. Some other elephants had watched the proceedings from across the river and once the rangers were gone, they slowly came over to investigate. They would stand next to the body and move their trunk tip over it and it was hard to not read human emotions into it: ‘What’s wrong, why are you not getting up’.

我拍摄了很多有趣的影像，展示了人类如何处理大象尸体以及他们的主要关注是什么。象牙被运走后，大象尸体被留在了河床边缘的土地上。其他一些大象在河对岸观看了整个过程。当巡护员离开后，它们慢慢走过了来进行调查。它们站在尸体旁边，将鼻子放在尸体上。人很难不从中读出人类水平的情感：“你怎么了，为什么不起来？”

Over the next two days a wide range ofthe resident’s elephants showed up and while this behavior could also have been interpreted as some kind saying good bye, to me it still felt more of trying to understand what had happened. However, it was an event I had never observed before. I did see elephants investigating skeletons of other elephant but not in such an intimate manner. It was, as often when observing elephants, thought provoking. An intelligent creature trying to understand a development which even they would not encounter often.

在接下来的两天里，很多当地的大象出现了。虽然该行为可以被解释为某种告别，但对我来说，它们更多是在试图理解发生了什么。这是我以前从未观察过的活动。我曾经看过大象用心地研究其他大象的骨骼，但并不是以如此亲密的方式。一种智慧的生物试图理解一类它们不会经常遇到的事件，是很发人深省的。（笔者收到了卡尔的视频，并进行了编辑）

That to me was the message I took away as far as these sentient creatures trying to understand the new, now human dominated world and finding it very problematic.

我所感受到的是，这些有知觉的生物在试图理解由人类主导的新世界，却发现它非常难以理解。

This was then also reinforced when I signed up to a new mail service on the Save the Elephants website which sends out all the news items dealing with elephants witha choice as far as the subscriber’s interest in the Asian or African subspecies. I signed up for both and started reading both. While probably half these items involving African elephants had some negative connotations, when it comes to the Asian elephants, mostly involving India and Sri Lanka it becomes a lot more distressing.

当我在“拯救大象”网站上注册新闻邮件服务时，人象冲突问题更加频繁地进入了我的世界。该服务会每日发送各类与大象有关的新闻项目，订阅者可根据对亚洲象或非洲象的兴趣进行选择。 我选了两种新闻并日常阅读起它们。 涉及非洲象的新闻可能有一半是具有负面含义的，但当涉及到亚洲象（主要涉及印度和斯里兰卡）时，情况就变得非常令人痛苦了。

There is hardly a day which goes by without some tale of farmers or villagers getting killed and the same for the elephants. As far as elephants attacking humans most death occurred when the humans are trampled to death. Elephants of course also die a natural death but in the Indian context a lot of elephants get electrocuted by illegal fencing, many get run over by trains when they cross rail lines. The same with trucks hitting them on roads, there is poaching and poisoning.

几乎每天都会发生农民或村民被杀的故事，大象也会被杀。 对于被攻击的人，大多数死于大象脚下。在印度，许多大象因触碰非法电围栏而触电身亡，许多大象在穿越铁路线时被火车装死，就像卡车在路上撞人一样。此外也有盗猎和投毒的情况。

Reading these accounts took me back to a feature I had read some years agoon Post-Traumatic Stress Syndrome making elephants more aggressive. At the time that mostly related to ivory poaching in Kenya which was out of control in the 80s. Considering that India has become the most populous nation on the planet and the associated amount of habitat loss for wildlife and especially elephants which have bigger home ranges than most other indigenous wildlife species, one could easily conclude that these new stress levels would definitely impact the behavior of the Indian/Asian elephants.

阅读这些报道让我回想起若干年前读过的一篇专题文章，关于创伤后应激综合症使大象变得更具攻击性。 它的内容主要与80年代失控的肯尼亚象牙盗猎有关。考虑到印度已成为地球上人口最多的国家，考虑到野生动物栖息地的丧失，尤其是大象的活动范围本就比其他本土野生动物的更大，人们可以容易得出结论，这些新的压力注定会影响亚洲象的行为。

Trying to understand all these new threats and the humans now everywhere must be a nightmare scenario for any intelligent and sentientcreature. So, I find it easy to sympathize with the elephants ‘losing it’ in some such settings. Never mind when the bulls come into musth.

对于任何有智慧和感知力的生物，试图理解所有这些新的威胁和无处不在的人类一定是一场噩梦。 所以我很容易同理大象在这样的环境中失去理性，与人发生冲突。更不要说狂暴的雄象了。

All of India’s main religions, Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism have never differentiated between the soul of a human and that of an animal. Ganesha is the elephant headed Hindu god of beginnings who is traditionally worshipedbefore any major enterprise and is the patron of intellectuals, bankers and writers. Despite this status official Indian government statistics show that in five years from 2018 to 2023 a total of 75 deaths of elephants were reported when knocked down by train locomotives in 10 states. During the same period 379 elephants lost their life through electrocution, 47 elephants were reported as having been killed by poachers and 21 elephants were poisoned.

印度的主要宗教，印度教、佛教和耆那教，从来没有区分过人类的灵魂和动物的灵魂。迦尼萨是印度教的象头神，在各地、不同信仰中被广泛崇拜。尽管如此，印度政府的官方统计数据显示，从2018 年到2023 年的五年间，10 个邦共报告了75 头大象因被火车头撞到而死亡。 同一时期，有379 头大象因触电而死，有47 头大象被偷猎者杀害，21 头大象被毒死。

Plus, there are the snares. while they are not set for elephants,I have seen regularly pachyderms with trunk tips missing or wire snares around the legs which makes for a lot of suffering and most of the time in a lingering death. So, with humans killing elephants do kill humans and I guess at the end of the day the elephant will be the overall looser in this ongoing competition for space.

另外还有钢丝套。 虽然它们不是为大象设计的，但我经常看到象鼻尖缺失的大象或腿部嵌入圈套的动物。这会带来极大的痛苦，让动物很长时间徘徊在死亡边缘。因为以上种种，人类伤害大象的活动也无疑反过来会造成人类的死亡。我想大象最终会在这场持续的生存空间竞争中败下阵来。

I feel strongly that the elephants would join into the sentiment reflected in the saying; All of creation is waiting for us to become human.

我强烈地感觉到，大象也是下面这句话的一员：天地万物都在等待我们成为人类。

【全文完】笔者对结束语稍加解释。它是一种人类中心主义的流行观点，即进化的末端是人类的出现，人是世界的主宰者。因此人可以肆意利用资源，包括一切野生动物。对于生态中心主义只不过是另一种动物，与其他生物是平等的。就我对Karl的了解，他的结语是一种悲观的态度，即大象终将会走向灭绝的境地。