2020年起吳哥窟禁止騎大象
One of Asia's most famous tourist attractions is taking a major stand for animals.
亞洲最著名的一處景點將做出保護動物的重要表態。Following pressure from animal activist groups, Apsara, the management authority for the Angkor Archaeological Park in Siem Reap, Cambodia announced in June 2019 it would ban elephant rides in early 2020.
在受到動物保護團體施加的壓力後，柬埔寨暹粒吳哥考古公園的管理當局Apsara於2019年6月宣佈，將在2020年初禁止騎大象。Now, the process has already begun.
現在，這一程序已經啓動。
Local outlet the Khmer Times reports that on November 15, two of the 14 elephants currently at the park, site of the famed Angkor Wat temple, have been relocated to the nearby Bos Thom community forest.
當地媒體《高棉時報》報道稱，11月15日，目前在該公園服務的14頭大象已有兩頭被轉移到附近的博斯托姆社區森林中。吳哥考古公園是著名的吳哥窟廟宇的所在地。Long Kosal, an Apsara press representative, told the Khmer Times that the remaining dozen animals would be relocated to the same forest by "early next year."
Apsara的新聞發言人龍庫索（音譯）告訴《高棉時報》說，其餘的12頭大象將在“明年初”轉移到同一片森林。"The elephant is a big animal, but it is also gentle and we don't want to see the animals being used for tourism activities anymore," Kosal said. "We want them to live in their natural surroundings."
庫索說：“大象是體積龐大的動物，但也是溫和的動物，我們不想再看到大象被用於旅遊活動。我們希望它們能在自然環境中生活。”
In 2016, an elephant named Sambo died at Angkor, drawing worldwide attention. Her death was blamed on a combination of heat stroke and exhaustion from ferrying so many human beings around.
2016年，一頭名爲桑博的大象在吳哥公園死亡，吸引了全世界的關注。她的死亡被歸咎於中暑和接載太多遊客。Two years later, the World Wildlife Fund published an in-depth look at the dwindling populations of the Asian elephant, noting that the species' population had declined by 50% in just three generations.
兩年後，世界野生動物基金會發表了一篇亞洲象數量減少的深度報道，報道指出，亞洲象在僅僅三代時間內數量就減少了一半。According to Angkor Enterprise, which manages park admissions, the UNESCO-listed site is facing a decline in tourist numbers.
吳哥售票處的數據顯示，這一被列入聯合國教科文組織世界遺產的景點正面臨遊客數量的減少。Its latest report says 1.8 million foreign tourists bought passes to the temple complex from January to September -- a 13.7% decline over the same 10-month period in 2018.
最新的報告顯示，今年1月至9月期間，有180萬外國遊客買票進吳哥窟參觀，相比2018年同期下降了13.7%。While there's no predicting whether Cambodia's ban on Angkor elephant rides will impact visitor numbers, it comes at a time when more and more travelers and tourism organizations around the world have moved to eliminate animal-related attractions.
柬埔寨禁止在吳哥公園騎大象是否會影響遊客數量尚無法預測，不過這條禁令的出臺恰逢世界各地越來越多的遊客和旅行社採取行動來淘汰動物相關景點。Most recently, TripAdvisor -- one of the world's biggest travel listings and bookings sites -- announced that it would not sell tickets to any sites that breed whales or dolphins in captivity, such as the theme park SeaWorld in the US.
最近，全球最大的旅遊比價和預訂網站貓途鷹宣佈，將不再出售任何圈養鯨魚或海豚的景點門票，比如美國的海洋世界主題公園。
