Orphaned baby elephant is raised by human mom 人類母親養育孤兒象

Lots of mothers wake in the middle of the night to feed their babies, but not many get up to give a bottle to an infant elephant.

很多媽媽半夜醒來餵寶寶，但起床拿奶瓶餵大象的可就不多了。

Jenny Webb adopted a baby boy elephant who was just a few weeks old in February. The orphaned elephant calf was named Moses. Rangers tried to find his family herd for two days without success. The calf’s mother was likely killed by elephant poachers.

珍妮．偉伯2月間領養一隻只有幾週大的小象。這隻孤兒象取名為摩西。公園管理員花了2天時間尋找牠的象群，卻徒勞無功。小象的母親可能已被盜獵者殺害。

The illegal killing of elephants is rife in Africa, with conservation groups saying that tens of thousands of elephants are being killed each year for their ivory tusks. Malawi’s national parks did not have the funds to raise the little elephant, so Webb took on the job of caring for the little pachyderm.

非法盜獵大象在非洲相當猖獗。保育團體表示，每年有成千上萬隻大象因象牙遭到殺害。由於馬拉威國家公園沒有資金養育這隻小象，所以偉伯接下照顧這隻小厚皮動物的工作。

’’Elephants are extremely sensitive,’’ said Webb. ’’We think of elephants as big, strong creatures but they are very emotional. Moses picks up on my feelings. If I am angry, he quickly gets upset.’’

偉伯說：「大象非常敏感。我們以為大象是又大又壯的生物，其實牠們情感豐富。摩西會觀察我的感受。如果我生氣，牠馬上就心情不好。」

Like many toddlers, Moses likes to go outside and Webb takes him on daily walks with the family dogs. ’’The dogs are like his herd,’’ she said. ’’He socializes with them in the day and likes going for walks with them. He quickly established dominance with them."

和很多幼兒一樣，摩西喜歡外出，偉伯帶著牠和家裡的狗一起散步。「狗就像牠的象群一樣，牠白天會和狗狗打交道，喜歡和狗狗一起散步，很快地就在狗群中建立主導地位。」

Raising Moses has been challenging, said Webb, "but it has been one of the most rewarding experiences of my life. I have raised children, and this is very similar, but you can’t put an elephant in a pram.’’ （AP）

養育摩西的工作很有挑戰性，偉伯說：「但這是我人生中最值得的經驗。我養育過孩子，和養象很類似，但你不能把大象放在嬰兒車裡。」（美聯社）


新聞辭典

rife：形容詞，普遍的；猖獗的。例句：Speculation is rife that he will be fired.（外界盛傳他就要被解僱。）

pick up on：片語，了解到；注意到。例句：Women are very quick to pick up emotional atmospheres.（女性很快就能察覺到周遭的情緒氛圍。）

dominance：名詞，優勢，統治地位。例句：The latest fighting appears to be an attempt by each group to establish dominance over the other.（最近的戰鬥似乎是各個組織企圖爭奪主導權。）