肯尼亚大象普查Elephant Census in Kenya

An aerial census of elephants and other large mammals is wrapping up inside of Kenya's Tsavo National Park. The operation by KWS - Kenya Wildlife Service - started on February 4th, and the week long effort surveyed roughly 48-thousand square kilometres of land in Kenya and Tanzania.
一项大象和大型哺乳动物的空中普查已经在肯尼亚察沃国家公园里进入了收尾阶段。这次由肯尼亚野生动物局执行的普查活动于2月4日开始，为期一周，考察了肯尼亚和坦桑尼亚大约48000平方公里的面积。

The results are to provide a better idea of how many large mammals live in and around the Tsavo-Mkomazi ecosystem and their activity since the last census three years ago. It also aims to map what humans have been up to, inside and outside the parks.
结果将显示三年前普查之后“察沃-姆科马济”生态系统里大型哺乳动物的数量，以及它们的生存状态。同时，也显示人类活动给这个区域带来的影响。

Charles Musyoki, a conservationist with KWS, says experts from various disciplines will analyse the data.
生态环境保护者查尔斯.穆斯约基在肯尼亚野生动物局工作，他说来自各个领域的专家将分析普查数据。

"It is an exercise that we carry out every three years with the main purpose of understanding how many elephants and other wildlife we have in the Tsavo ecosystem, including the Mkomazi national park in Tanzania, and for this year we have 130 participants who are going to be involved in this exercise whose, you know, disciplines and expertise and skills and competencies are very diverse."
“我们每三年就会普查一次，主要目的是看看在包括坦桑尼亚姆科马奇国家公园在内的察沃生态系统里有多少头大象和其它野生动物。今年，我们有130人参与其中，他们来自不同的领域，各有所专长。”

The Tsavo region is home to Kenya's largest elephant population and covers approximately four per cent of the country's landmass.
察沃地区是肯尼亚大象主要的分布地，大约占肯尼亚百分之四的陆地面积。

As Musyoko explained, this operation, which involves 18 planes and hundreds of flying hours, is painstaking, "Where there are large herds they will count and also take photographs to verify the numbers. So we will get number of elephants, we will get number of all other large mammals that are going to be counted. We will be able then to come up with an estimate at the end of the exercise."
穆斯约基解释说，这项活动出动了18架飞机，飞行几百小时，是一项很辛苦的工作。“遇到大的象群，他们不仅要数数，还要拍照核实数量。不仅是大象的数量，还要得到其它大型哺乳动物的数据。到普查活动的最后我们才得到估算数据。”

KWS said the 2011 aerial census revealed the elephant population had steadily increased over three years.
肯尼亚野生动物管理局说，2011年空中普查数据显示了大象数量三年间保持了稳定增长。

Musyoki explained conservationists want to find out the impact of changes in land use on the elephant population. In 1967, about 35,000 elephants roamed through this ecosystem. But by 1988, years of aggressive poaching and periods of severe drought saw numbers drop to some 5,400.
穆斯约基说生态环境保护者想弄清楚土地利用的变化对大象数量产生的影响。1967年这个生态圈里有35000头大象，但到了1988年，由于大肆偷猎和严重干旱，数量减少到约5400头。

Elephant poaching in Kenya declined sharply after 1989 when the government banned the trade in ivory. But recent years has seen a rise in the illegal practice.
从1989年政府规定禁止象牙交易后，肯尼亚偷猎大象的数量下降很快，但近些年非法行为又有所抬头。

The fluctuation of Tsavo's elephant population over the decades has had a significant impact on the ecosystem.
察沃地区大象数量在过去几十年里的波动给当地生态造成了巨大影响。