2020年3月，16头亚洲野象离开云南西双版纳自然保护区的家，一路北上开始了它们长达17个月共计1300公里的长途旅行。“离家出走”的原因不明，但它们的旷世之旅无疑成为了世界关注的焦点。2021年8月，旅游了一圈的非洲野象们终于返回了老家，让全球粉丝们终于松了一口气。这一路，这些家伙们没少“折腾”人类，但显然它们得到了很好的护卫。
2021年10月11日，在联合国《生物多样性公约》缔约方大会第十五次会议（COP15）的开幕式上，“亚洲大象旅行天团”再一次以短视频的形式出现在了世界面前。作为COP15的“开场嘉宾”，视频中它们一路悠闲逛吃、不时搞点“小破坏”，制造“小紧张”，还会像拼图一样紧挨着“躺平”，憨态可掬的样子让与会嘉宾脸上露出了笑容。
As a prelude to COP 15, a short video documenting the wild Asian elephants’ unprecedented travelling was played to the world at the opening ceremony of COP 15 held in Kunming, Yunnan Province.
短视频《“象”往云南》在COP15开幕式上播放
观众席中有一个人对这些大块头再熟悉不过了， 他就是国际爱护动物基金会IFAW项目官员曹大藩， 在云南从事野生亚洲象保护已经很多年。
Defan CAO, Program officer with International Fund for Animal Welfare was among the audience. He is so familiar with the adventure-loving creatures because he has dedicated himself to wild Asian elephant protection in Yunnan for many years.
工作中的曹大潘
曹大潘在COP15接受北京外语广播记者Chloe采访
Chloe
云南亚洲象旅行天团为什么要离开西双版纳自然保护区北上呢？
大藩
在亚洲象生活的区域西双版纳或普洱，其实每个种群的大象每年都会有一个时间往外游走或者扩散，但都不太远，几十公里或者100公里左右，不停地走，不停地选择栖息地，然后找到更适合更喜欢的地方。但这群象走得这么远的确出乎意料，原因很多，之前很多专家都说过了，我就不再重复了。
Chloe
是不是因为这些年保护得力，云南亚洲象从上世纪80年代的180多头变成了300头，所以年轻的大象需要寻找更多的栖息地？
大藩
这也是原因之一，在一个区域里，亚洲象数量不断增加的话，会对它的生活造成压力，在这种前提下，不管是大象还是其他动物其实都会分散，种群需要分开，继续开辟新的适宜的栖息地，这对于动物来说是 其实比较正常的，只是这次引起的关注度比较高。这是好事，因为能让公众更深入地了解、认知亚洲象。
野生亚洲象
Chloe
作为IFAW中国负责亚洲象项目的官员，您的工作内容是什么？
大藩
我的工作主要就是推动整个云南省的野生亚洲象保护行动，包括对于亚洲象活动区域周边村民的安全防范教育和培训以及推动他们的社区发展。我们希望通过提升村子里人们的经济收入水平，增加他们承受大象带来损失的能力。
My major task is to promote the protection for wild Asian elephants in Yunnan Province. We provide safety education and training for villagers around the elephants’ activity areas and help them to develop their communities such as enhancing their income so as to offset the economic loss caused by the elephants.
Chloe
这么说，亚洲象经常来“捣乱”？
大藩
亚洲象生活的区域周边有不少村子，大象在活动的时候会到村子周边去取食村民的农作物，有时也会遇到路上来往的车辆，难免造成一些经济损失。
There are many villages around the habitats of Asian elephants. It’s not a rare case that the uninvited guests eat villagers' crops or damage vehicles on roads, which inevitably leads to economic loss.
农田中的象群
Chloe
那你们是如何来帮助村民增加抗风险能力的呢？
大藩
我们和企业还有其他机构合作，在紧挨着野生亚洲象保护区、大象出没最集中的勐养镇的一个村子做了社区发展项目，其中包含中华蜜蜂养殖等。另外因为自我发展和市场影响的原因，一些村民把之前种的橡胶作物砍掉了，我们就支持他们在砍掉的橡胶地里种植一些对于生态比较友好的果木，同时在果木下做一些林下地表覆盖物或者种植相对更友好的底层作物，在发展经济的同时也增加生物多样性。
Cooperating with enterprises and institutions, we have carried out a community development program in Mengyang Town, which is close to the wild Asian elephants reserve and frequently visited by the animal. The program includes helping villagers keep Chinese bees as well as grow fruit trees. For villagers who have cut down their rubber trees for personal reasons or market influence,we support them to plant some fruit trees in the rubber fields and some ecologically friendly ground crops under the fruit trees, so as to develop local economy while increasing biodiversity.
亚洲象保护项目（AEP）
How Wild Asian Elephants Be Protected
野生亚洲象，原来需要这样保护你呀
大藩的工作内容非常丰富，也十分细致。因为他说，对于一个物种的保护来说，不能简单地认为就是单纯保护这个物种，其实对于这个物种所涉及的方方面面都要关注。例如以亚洲象、大熊猫为代表的旗舰物种，它们所涉及的环境、栖息地，包括土壤、植物、微生物等各种物种都是他们工作的目标。只不过是利用旗舰物种的影响力，让更多人来关注生物多样性和生态环境。他们保护的其实是整个区域。
Da Fan’s work contents are varied and meticulous. He told us when talking about species protection, people may think it’s about simply protecting one specific species. In fact, they pay attention to all aspects related to the species. For example, the protection of the flagship species such as Asian elephants and giant pandas will involve their habitats, the environment such as soils, plants, micro-organisms and other co-existing species. The environment protection workers just utilize the influence of the flagship species to arouse the public’s attention to the biodiversity conservation. They are actually protecting the whole areas.
野生亚洲象
Chloe
亚洲象是现存最大陆生动物，为什么说它们的生存状态对整个生态系统至关重要？
大藩
亚洲象的体型非常大，这就决定了它取食数量惊人，一头成年象每天的食物大约为150到200公斤，本身它又是植食性动物，自身消化率非常低，所取食的食物最后只有大约40%进入身体循环被吸收利用。这么大的取食量决定了它在活动取食的过程中会对周遭的环境造成很大的影响。
The Asian elephants are very large, which determines that they need an amazing amount of food. An adult elephant eats about 150 to 200 kilograms of food per day. As an herbivore or plant eater，their digestion ability is very poor with only about 40% of the food can be finally absorbed by the body. Such a large amount of food consumption has a great impact on the surrounding environment.
在一个比较完整的生态系统里面，大象起到了促进更新的作用：推倒一些老树、吃掉一些植物，让森林有更适宜地表植物生长的空间。此外，大象每天会排出上百公斤粪便，这些粪便通过它的协作者，比如白蚁、微生物等在极短的时间内被分解，作为肥料重新回归到森林系统中。
In a relatively complete ecosystem, elephants play a vital role in promoting forest renewal: they pushes down old trees, eat up some plants, so as to create more spaces for the growth of ground surface plants. In addition, elephants drop off over one hundred kilograms of dung every day, which will be quickly decomposed by its collaborators, such as termites and microorganisms within a very short time and return to the forest system as fertilizer.
另外大象还有一个比较关键的作用，就是对物种种子的传播。它吃很多禾本科植物的种子，在游走过程中，粪便里的种子遇到合适的光热条件就会萌发。
In addition, elephants are seed transporters. They eat a lot of plants in grass family and drop their seeds off. In this way, seeds get dispersed many miles farther.
大象还有一个非常有意思的功能，它走路的脚印很大，对吧？在一些区域，这些脚印会形成一个个小坑，下雨的时候灌满水，就为很多物种比如小型蛙类、水生昆虫、蜻蜓的幼虫等提供了生活的区域。
The elephants leave huge footprints, right? In some areas, these footprints will form small pits. When it rains, they will be filled with rainwater, which provides a home for many species, such as small frogs, aquatic insects and dragonfly larvae.
森林中的象群
在头些年的工作中，大藩和野生亚洲象有过很多亲密接触，对于某个熟悉的种群，他可以区分出种群中各个大象之间的关系，比如这头是干嘛的，那头是干嘛的，可他却否认自己是野生亚洲象的人类朋友这一说法，为什么呢?
In previous years, because of work, Defan encountered wild Asian elephants quite often. For some familiar herds, he can even distinguish the relationship between elephants and each one’s specific role in the family. However, he refused to call himself a human friend of wild Asian elephants. Why is that?
Chloe
大象不是很可爱吗？
大藩
亚洲象其实真的是野兽，是野生动物，大家应该注意这一点，而不是我们在视频里面看到的它们真的很可爱。千万不要尝试去靠近它们，应该给它们更多的尊重，让它们在自己觉得安全的空间里自由地生活，这才是更好的关爱它们的方式。
对于“野生亚洲象的人类朋友”这个说法，我们不太提倡，因为它们其实没有办法在真正意义上和我们成为朋友，只是说我们对它们友善一些，它们就会对我们友好一点。村子里的老百姓也说，你不要去招惹它，它也不会主动来伤害你。但如果你老要靠近它，让它觉得危险了，那么它肯定会过来，从自己的安全角度把你赶走或者采取一些后果更严重的措施。其实我们跟野生动物之间，首先是保持对它的尊重，而不是跟它交朋友或者去征服它。
In fact, we don't advocate the saying of wild Asian elephants’ human friends, because they can't really befriend us. It’s just like if we treat them more friendly, they will do the same to us. Villagers also told me that if we don't irritate them, they won’t attack us intentionally. However, if you keep getting close to them and let them feel threatened, they will certainly drive you away for its own safety or even take more serious actions. In fact, between humans and wild animals, the first thing is respect instead of making friends or conquering them.
在池塘洗澡的小象
Chloe
未来您将着重关注生物多样性保护的哪些方面？
大藩
关于以后的设想，肯定是对于亚洲象这个物种的宣传和公众科普，我觉得这是个持续的内容，因为我们这批人学了这些知识，后面还有孩子，还有其他人，这肯定是个漫长的过程，另外我们也希望有更多的思路在一定程度上缓解人和象的冲突，给大象更多的生存空间。
I think the education will be a continuous thing because we have learned the knowledge, but we have children and some other people who are not informed yet. This will be a long process. In addition, we hope to figure out more solutions to alleviate the conflict between humans and wild Asian elephants, so as to give each other more living spaces.
International Fund for Animal Welfare
国际爱护动物基金会IFAW
大藩所在的国际爱护动物基金会IFAW创立于1969年, 是全球最大的动物福利组织之一，旨在通过减少对动物的商业剥削和贸易、保护野生动物的栖息地以及救助危难中的动物来提高野生动物和伴侣动物的福利。IFAW积极倡导人与动物和谐共处的爱护动物理念，推广人与动物共同受益的动物福利和保护政策。
北京猛禽救助中心对野生猛禽进行救治（BRRC图片）
IFAW was founded by Brian Davies with the goal to stop the commercial hunt for whitecoat seals on the east coast of Canada in 1969. The International Fund for Animal Welfare has become one of the biggest global animal welfare NGOs, which helps animals and people thrive together.
北京猛禽救助中心对野生猛禽进行救治（BRRC图片）
北京猛禽救助中心康复师用手偶给红隼雏鸟喂食，避免雏鸟产生印痕行为（摄影 刘安拍）
国际爱护动物基金会IFAW项目主任马晨玥
IFAW中国成立于1994年，近年来在国内主要开展了野生亚洲象、藏羚羊保护以及北京猛禽救助等项目。这些年公众的环保意识不断增强，以前碰上需要救助的猛禽，人们会问“能吃吗”，现在人们则会问“这是什么保护级别的鸟，我该如何救助”。
马晨玥在COP15接受北京外语广播记者Chloe采访
马晨玥对于中国国务院新闻办公室最新发布的《中国的生物多样性保护》白皮书给予了很高的评价。根据白皮书，生物多样性保护已被提升为中国的国家战略。她认为中国采取跨部门、跨地区和跨境联合行动打击贩运珍稀濒危野生动物，在遏制野生动物非法交易方面发挥了重要作用，她强烈支持中国对涉及野生动物非法活动的零容忍政策。她说IFAW希望中国在这一领域的区域合作中继续发挥主导作用，以真正建立打击野生动物非法交易的跨境、跨区域网络。
YK Ma, Program Manager with IFAW is impressed by the newly released white paper for biodiversity conservation in China. According to the white paper, biodiversity conservation has been elevated to a national strategy in China.
She points out that the trans-department, cross-region, and cross-border joint actions taken by China to crack down on the trafficking of rare and endangered wildlife have played an important role in deterring illegal wildlife trading. She strongly supports China’s zero-tolerance policy toward illegal activities involving wildlife.
She indicates that IFAW expected China to play a leading role in regional cooperation in this field, so as to truly establish the cross-continental network against illegal wildlife trade.
北京猛禽救助中心康复师和救助人一起将康复红隼放归野外（摄影 李一鸣）
