Chouk the Elephant 大象舒克

景一

It was 2007 when Nick Marx from the Wildlife Alliance1 got the call. An injured elephant needed help. While the Phnom Tamao Wildlife Rescue Centre in Cambodia had been caring for injured and orphaned2 wildlife for many years， an elephant rescue didnt happen very often. It would not be an easy task.

Nick headed out to the forests of the Mondulkiri Province with no idea that the animal he was about to rescue would change his life forever. Luckily， he found the injured elephant quickly. It was a young male， only about five hundred pounds. One of his front feet was badly injured.

Although Nick couldnt be sure， the elephant had probably fallen victim3 to a snare4 trap5 that was left in the forests to catch various types of animals. The snare probably wrapped around the elephants foot tighter and tighter as he tried to escape. It got so tight that it nearly removed the entire foot.

The little elephant was scared and in pain. Nick used a tranquilizer6 dart7 to make the elephant go to sleep. That way the team could move him into a transport vehicle and take him back to the rescue center for treatment.

Once Nick was able to properly evaluate8 the elephant， he feared for his survival9. His foot was so severely infected10 that it had to be amputated11. The elephant was malnourished12， too.

Nick named the elephant Chouk， which means “l(fā)otus13 flower” in Cambodian. Over the next several weeks， Nick stayed with Chouk nearly every night. He made sure that he had food and was comfortable， and he changed his bandages14 several times a day to help clear the infection. As the weeks progressed， Chouks wound healed and he began to gain weight. He was a friendly and playful elephant， but he struggled to walk with his missing foot.

Chouk would not have a good quality of life with only three limbs15. The more time he spent walking on three legs， the more his body would compensate16 for this change. Soon his body would start changing permanently17 to make up for the disability. Nick could already see changes in the growing elephant.

But what could the Wildlife Alliance do？

Nick had an idea. Maybe he could make a prosthetic18 limb that would replace Chouks missing foot. He searched to see if anything like this had been done before， but no one had ever created a prosthetic for an elephant. Nick researched several organizations that made and designed prosthetics for humans and was lucky to find one not far away， the Cambodian School of Prosthetics and Orthotics19.

Nick contacted the school， and soon after， some of the staff came to the Centre to meet Chouk. The students and professors from the school examined Chouks injured limb， took measurements， and made a plaster20 cast21 of Chouks leg. After talking with Nick， they were confident that they could design a new foot for Chouk that would allow him to once again walk on all four of his legs.

Designing and making the prosthetic was going to be very costly， and the rescue center already spent all of its resources on food and the care of the animals. Nick needed help and support from someone to pay for Chouks treatment and training. He contacted the SeaWorld & Busch Gardens Conservation Fund in hopes that they could support it to save Chouk.

Asian elephants are the only living species of elephant in Southeast Asia. They are endangered and it is believed that their population has declined by at least half in the past 100 years due to habitat22 loss and hunting. Asian elephants are an important part of the ecosystem in Cambodia， but have also been used in farming and transportation for centuries. The SeaWorld & Busch Gardens Conservation Fund agreed to support this important project， and soon after， the Wildlife Alliance had the funds to create Chouks new foot.

The school used the cast of Chouks leg to create a specially fitted prosthetic. They also created a special cloth sock that would go over Chouks limb to prevent him from getting any sores23. The prosthetic would need to be cleaned frequently， so they designed Velcro24 straps25 that made it easy for the animal care team at the rescue center to remove the prosthetic whenever they needed.

The final problem the designers had to overcome was how to protect the bottom of the prosthetic from the heavy weight and constant walking of the elephant. They needed something that could be easily replaced as the elephant wore it down. After a few tests， they settled on attaching a piece of a car tire to the bottom of the prosthetic. As Chouk used his new limb， they could replace the tire treads as frequently as needed.

Another challenge Nick faced was training Chouk so they could put the prosthetic on him in a safe way. Nick reached out to his friends at Busch Gardens in Tampa to learn how they trained their elephants using positive reinforcement26. Nick visited the park and learned the principles27 behind animal training. He took those lessons back to Cambodia to help train Chouk.

Finally， the day came for Chouk to try out his new foot. The staff from the school put the special sock over his limb and attached28 the prosthetic to his leg.

Within minutes Chouk was walking around just as if he had all four feet. Over the next few days， Nick noticed that Chouk had started to walk more and more like other elephants and that the prosthetic didnt seem to bother him. Nick started taking Chouk for long walks out into the woods and watched as he swam and played with the other elephants at the rescue center.

Over the course of the next several years， Chouk grew rapidly. Adult Asian elephants can be as tall as nine feet and weigh well over eight thousand pounds. Every few months， a new prosthetic was created to keep up with how fast Chouk was growing. Chouk has now outgrown more than a dozen prosthetic limbs！

If you visit the Phnom Tamao Wildlife and Rescue Centre， youll most likely catch a glimpse of Chouk， the elephant with a prosthetic leg.

2007年的時候，野生動物聯(lián)盟的尼克·馬克思接到了電話。一頭受傷的大象需要幫助。雖然柬埔寨金邊野生動物救助中心多年來一直在照顧受傷的野生動物和野生動物孤兒，但大象救援并不時常有。這不是一項容易的任務。

尼克前往蒙多基里省的森林，并不知道他將要救助的那頭動物將永遠改變他的生活。幸運的是，他很快找到了受傷的大象。那是一頭年幼的雄象，只有500磅（約227千克）左右。它的一只前腳受了重傷。

盡管尼克不能確定，但大象很可能是留在叢林里捕捉各種動物的陷阱的犧牲品。當大象試圖逃跑時，圈套可能會越來越緊地纏在它的腳上。它太緊了，幾乎勒斷了這頭象的整只腳。

這頭小象既害怕又痛苦。尼克用麻醉飛鏢使它入睡，這樣小組就可以把它轉移到運輸車上，然后把它帶回救援中心治療。

尼克能正確評估大象的情況后，就擔心它能否繼續(xù)活下去。它的腳受了嚴重的感染，不得不截肢。而且它還營養(yǎng)不良。

尼克給大象取名為舒克（Chouk），在柬埔寨語里是“蓮花”的意思。在接下來的幾周里，尼克幾乎每晚都和舒克在一起。他確保了它有吃的，而且舒適，并且每天給它換幾次繃帶來幫助清除感染。隨著時間的推移，舒克的傷口愈合，體重開始增加。它是一只友好而頑皮的大象，但它卻掙扎著用殘肢走路。

只有三只腳，舒克的生活質量不會高。它用三條腿走路的時間越多，它的身體就越能彌補這種變化。很快它的身體就會開始永久性地改變以彌補傷殘。尼克已經可以看到大象在成長中的變化。

但是野生動物聯(lián)盟能做什么呢？

尼克有了個主意。也許他可以做一個假肢來代替舒克的腳。他想看看以前是否有人做過這樣的事，但從來沒有人為大象做過假肢。尼克研究了幾個為人類制造和設計假肢的組織，幸運的是，他在離他不遠的地方找到了柬埔寨假肢和矯形學院。

尼克聯(lián)系了學校，不久之后，一些工作人員來野生動物救助中心見了舒克。學校的學生和教授們檢查了舒克受傷的肢體，進行了測量，并做了舒克腿部的石膏模型。在與尼克交談后，他們有信心為舒克設計一只新的腳，讓它可以再次用四條腿走路。

假肢的設計和制造將是非常昂貴的，救助中心已經把所有的資源都花在了食物和動物護理上。尼克需要幫助和支持來支付舒克的治療和訓練的費用。他聯(lián)系了海洋世界和布希公園保護基金會，希望得到他們的支持，以拯救舒克。

亞洲象是東南亞唯一生存的象種。它們?yōu)l臨滅絕，據(jù)信，由于棲息地喪失和被獵殺，它們的種群在過去的100年里至少減少了一半。亞洲象是柬埔寨生態(tài)系統(tǒng)的重要組成部分，但幾百年來也被用于農業(yè)和交通運輸。海洋世界和布希公園保護基金會同意支持這個重要的項目，不久之后，野生動物聯(lián)盟就有了資金來制作舒克的新腳。

學校利用舒克的腿部石膏模型制作了一個特殊的假肢。他們還發(fā)明了一種特殊的布襪子，可以套在舒克的四肢上，防止它長出任何瘡來。假肢需要經常清洗，所以他們設計了尼龍搭扣帶，使得救援中心的動物護理小組在需要的時候可以很容易地取下假肢。

設計者們必須攻克的最后一個問題是，如何保護假肢的底部不受大象的巨大重量和不斷行走的影響。他們需要在大象磨損了它的時候很容易進行更換的東西。經過幾次測試，他們決定在假肢的底部安裝裁剪的一片汽車輪胎。當舒克使用它的新肢體時，人們可以根據(jù)需要的頻率來更換它。

尼克面臨的另一個挑戰(zhàn)是訓練舒克，這樣他們才可以安全地給它戴上假肢。尼克聯(lián)系了在坦帕的布希公園的朋友，了解他們是如何用正強化來訓練大象的。尼克參觀了公園，學習了動物訓練的原則。他帶著這些經驗回到了柬埔寨幫助訓練舒克。

終于，到了舒克試用它的新腳的這一天。學校的工作人員把特制的襪子套在它的腿上，把假肢固定在它的腿上。

幾分鐘內，舒克就四處走動，就像它四肢健全一樣。在接下來的幾天里，尼克注意到舒克走路開始越來越像其他大象了，而且這個假肢似乎沒有對它造成困擾。尼克開始帶舒克到樹林里散步，看著它在救助中心和其他大象一起游泳和玩耍。

在接下來的幾年里，舒克迅速長大。成年亞洲象的身高可達9英尺（約2.7米），體重遠遠超過8000磅（約3629千克）。每隔幾個月，就有新的假肢制作出來，以跟上舒克的成長速度。舒克現(xiàn)在已經長出過十幾條假肢了！

如果你會參觀金邊野生動物救助中心，你很可能會看見裝有假肢的大象舒克。

（英語原文選自：www.chickensoup.com）

【Notes】

1. alliance [■] n. 聯(lián)盟 2. orphan [■] v. 使成為孤兒

3. victim [■] n. 受害人，犧牲品 4. snare [■] n. （捕鳥、獸的）陷阱

5. trap [■] n. （捕捉動物的）陷阱，捕捉器;圈套 6. tranquilizer [■] n. 鎮(zhèn)定劑

7. dart [■] n. 飛鏢 8. evaluate [■] vt. 評價

9. survival [■] n. 生存;存活 10. infect [■] vt. 感染，傳染

11. amputate [■] vt. 截肢;切斷

12. malnourished [■] adj. 營養(yǎng)不良的;營養(yǎng)失調的

13. lotus [■] n. 蓮花;荷花 14. bandage [■] n. 繃帶

15. limb [■] n. 肢，臂 16. compensate [■] vi. 補償;抵消

17. permanently [■] adv. 永久地，長期不變地 18. prosthetic [■] adj. 假體的;義肢的

19. orthotics [■] n. 矯正術;器械矯形學 20. plaster [■] n. 石膏

21. cast [■] n. 鑄件，模型 22. habitat [■] n. 棲息地，產地

23. sores [■] n. 潰瘍，痛處

24. Velcro [■] n. 魔術貼，尼龍搭扣（尼龍粘扣商標名）

25. strap [■] n. 帶子，皮帶，金屬帶

26. reinforcement [■] n. 增援;援軍;加強

27. principle [■] n. 原理，原則 28. attach [■] vt. 使依附;貼上;系上