新奇事件簿 美國馬戲團禁用大象

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One of the largest circus companies in the USA will soon no longer have performing elephants as part of its shows. The Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus said it would stop using elephants by 2018. All the 43 animals it currently uses will be moved to an animal conservation centre in Florida. There, the giant creatures will live out their retirement. The decision came after a lot of protests from the public. One hundred years ago, people thought it was OK for animals to perform to please humans. However, the world is different today and people are more worried about the lives of the animals. The circus will continue touse other animals, such as camels, dogs, horses, lions and tigers.

美國最知名的馬戲團之一宣布將不會再使用大象進行表演。林林兄弟和巴納姆和貝利馬戲團稱他們將會在2018年之前停止使用大象。目前，所有表演的大象將會轉(zhuǎn)移到佛羅里達的動物保護中心。這些龐然大物將會在那里退休。這一決定是因為公眾提出了抗議。100年前，人們認為使用動物來取悅?cè)祟愂强梢詫崿F(xiàn)的。但是，如今的世界不同了，人們對動物的生命更加關注。馬戲團還將使用其它如駱駝、狗、馬、獅子以及老虎等動物。

Circuses have been criticised for many years by animal rights activists and the public who care about the treatment of animals. Jessica Johnson, a spokeswoman for PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) explained how elephants have a bad life in circuses. She said: "Many of the elephants are painfully arthritic, and many have tuberculosis, so their retirement day needs to come now." Many cities and towns in the USA have banned the use of elephants for entertainment. This has made it hard for circuses to travel around the country. Owners of the circus company said the decision to stop using elephants was not easy but understood that: "There's been somewhat of a mood shift among our consumers."

近些年，動物權利保護人士以及公眾對馬戲團進行了多方批判，公眾更加關注的是人們對待動物的方式。善待動物組織發(fā)言人杰西卡·喬森向人們解釋了動物在馬戲團生活的艱苦狀況。她說：“許多大象都有嚴重的關節(jié)炎，所以許多還患有肺結(jié)核，所以它們的退休時間需要提前。”許多批判家以及一些美國鄉(xiāng)村都禁止使用大象作為娛樂工具。這使得馬戲團很難在美國開展巡演。一家馬戲團的負責人稱這樣的決定是很艱難的，但是也是可以理解的，他稱：“顧客的心態(tài)有了不少的改變。”