博茨瓦纳调查至少275头大象的神秘死亡
A dead elephant is seen in this undated handout image in Okavango Delta, Botswana, May-June 2020.
2020年5月至6月，博茨瓦纳奥卡万戈三角洲，一头死大象出现在这张未注明日期的讲义图片上。
GABORONE – Botswana is investigating a growing number of unexplained deaths of elephants, having confirmed 275 had died, up from 154 two weeks ago, the government said Thursday.
博茨瓦纳政府周四表示，正在调查越来越多的无法解释的大象死亡事件，已确认有275头死亡，比两周前的154头有所增加。
The dead elephants were first spotted months ago in the Okavango Panhandle region, and the authorities say they have since been trying to discover the cause. Poaching has been ruled out as the cause of death, as the carcasses were found intact.
几个月前，在奥卡万戈-潘汉德地区首次发现了这些死亡的大象，当局说，他们此后一直试图找出原因。由于尸体完好无损，偷猎已被排除为死亡原因。
“Three laboratories in Zimbabwe, South Africa and Canada have been identified to process the samples taken from the dead elephants,” the Ministry of Environment, Natural Resources, Conservation and Tourism said in a statement.
环境、自然资源、自然资源保护和旅游部在一份声明中说：“津巴布韦、南非和加拿大的三个实验室已被确定处理从死亡的大象身上采集的样本。”
In a report prepared for the government and seen by Reuters, Elephants Without Borders (EWB), a conservation organization, said that its aerial surveys showed that elephants of all ages appeared to be dying. The group counted 169 dead elephants on May 25, and another 187 on June 14, according to the report.
在为政府准备的一份报告中，路透社看到，一个保护组织大象无国界组织（EWB）表示，其航空调查显示，各个年龄段的大象都快要死了。 该报告称，该组织在5月25日统计出169头大象死亡，6月14日共有187头大象死亡。
The directors of EWB did not immediately respond to phone calls or text messages seeking comment on the report.
EWB的负责人没有立即通过电话或文章来发表评论。
“Several live elephants that we observed appeared to be weak, lethargic and emaciated. Some elephants appeared disorientated, had difficulty walking, showed signs of partial paralysis or a limp,” the report said.
报告说：“我们观察到的几只活象显得虚弱，昏昏欲睡和瘦弱。一些象显得迷失方向，行走困难，表现出部分瘫痪或跛行的迹象。”
“One elephant was observed walking in circles, unable to change direction although being encouraged by other herd members.”
有人观察到一头大象绕圈而行，虽然受到其他大象群成员的鼓励，但无法改变方向。
The report said urgent action was needed to establish if the deaths were caused by disease or poisoning.
报告说，需要采取紧急行动来确定死亡是由疾病还是中毒引起的。
Africa’s overall elephant population is declining due to poaching, but Botswana, home to almost a third of the continent’s elephants, has seen numbers grow to 130,000 from 80,000 in the late 1990s.
由于偷猎，非洲大象的总体数量正在下降，但是博茨瓦纳，非洲大陆近三分之一大象的故乡，大象数量从上世纪90年代末的8万头增加到13万头。
However, they are seen as a nuisance by some farmers, whose crops have been destroyed.
但是，一些农民认为这是滋扰，他们的庄稼被毁了。
President Mokgweetsi Masisi lifted a five-year ban on big game hunting in May last year but the hunting season failed to take off in April as global travel restrictions meant hunters from many coronavirus-hit countries could not enter Botswana.
去年5月，总统莫西韦西·马西西（Mokgweetsi Masisi）取消了对大型猎物的五年禁令，但由于全球旅行限制，许多冠状病毒感染国家的猎人无法进入博茨瓦纳，狩猎季节未能在4月份开始。
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