新奇事件簿 美国马戏团禁用大象（在线收听）

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.

美国最知名的马戏团之一宣布将不会再使用大象进行表演。林林兄弟和巴纳姆和贝利马戏团称他们将会在2018年之前停止使用大象。目前，所有表演的大象将会转移到佛罗里达的动物保护中心。这些庞然大物将会在那里退休。这一决定是因为公众提出了抗议。100年前，人们认为使用动物来取悦人类是可以实现的。但是，如今的世界不同了，人们对动物的生命更加关注。马戏团还将使用其它如骆驼、狗、马、狮子以及老虎等动物。

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，动物权利保护人士以及公众对马戏团进行了多方批判，公众更加关注的是人们对待动物的方式。善待动物组织发言人杰西卡·乔森向人们解释了动物在马戏团生活的艰苦状况。她说：“许多大象都有严重的关节炎，所以许多还患有肺结核，所以它们的退休时间需要提前。”许多批判家以及一些美国乡村都禁止使用大象作为娱乐工具。这使得马戏团很难在美国开展巡演。一家马戏团的负责人称这样的决定是很艰难的，但是也是可以理解的，他称：“顾客的心态有了不少的改变。”