The family structure of elephants - Caitlin O'Connell-Rodwell

大象的家庭结构 - Caitlin O'Connell-Rodwell

翻译人员: Binglin Qi 校对人员: kiki zhang

If I were to distill the 20 years of elephant research

如果我要用一句话

that I've done

into one sentence,

what would it be?

概括我20年

What could I tell you?

对大象的研究，

I would say that elephants are just like us!

那会是什么呢？

And what do I mean by that?

我能告诉你什么？

我会说大象真的和我们很像！

It takes a lot of patience

to be out there in the field

and trying to figure out patterns

我这么说是什么意思呢？

of these very slow and intelligent animals.

But over time, it is true they are very similar to us.

在野外

And you think, "Well, how can I say that?

努力解决这些行动慢、聪明的动物

Look, they have huge ears,

的行为模式

they have really long noses.

是需要很大的耐心的。

What do you mean they're like us?"

但随着时间的推移，确实能说他们很像我们

Well, in fact, their families are very similar to ours.

你也许会想：“好吧，我怎么能这么说呢？”

And family is extremely important to elephants.

看，它们有大大的耳朵

They grow up in very tight-knit families

还有非常长的鼻子

and they have extended families.

你说它们像我们是什么意思？

And it's just like our family reunions

好吧，事实上，是它们的家庭和我们很像

where you have all the aunts gathering around

而家庭对于大象来说是至关重要的。

with all the food they're going to bring and plan,

它们在亲密的家庭关系中长大

and all the boys are thinking,

有着广大的家庭网。

"Are we going to play our video games together?

这就像我们的家庭重聚一样

Are we going to spar?"

你能与你的七大姑八大姨凑在一起

It's very, very similar,

吃着她们准备或带来的所有食物，

所有的男孩都在想

and it's jubilant, and screaming, yelling, it's really amazing to see.

“我们会一起玩电子游戏吗？

But, as soon as you get that family gathering,

我们会拳击吗？”

it's just like a wedding or anything else,

这真的和我们非常相似

all of the sudden the family politics come out,

你能很惊奇的看到欢愉的气氛，尖叫着大吵着。

and the lower-ranking individuals in this scene,

但是，一旦你们家庭聚在了一起，

you see the arrow off to the back,

就像是婚礼或是别的什么，

the lower-ranking individuals already know their station,

很快家庭政治就会出现，

they're going to drink at the muddiest part of the pan

画面中低级的大象们，

because the whole family's here and we can't drink at the best water

你们看到它们背后的箭

低级的大象已然知道自己的地位，

because that's reserved for the top-ranking family.

它们会去喝盘里最肮脏的水

因为整个家庭都在那里，所以我们不能喝最好的水

因为那是为地位高的成员所保存的。

What's also very similar

另一点也很相似的是

is that you have elders in the group

在团体里有着每只大象

that everyone reveres.

This is the matriarch,

都尊敬的长辈。

and the other female is reaching over

这是雌族长，

其他雌性大象也紧跟上来。

and doing what's called a trunk to mouth

并且做一种叫象鼻进嘴巴的动作，

placing her trunk in the mouth,

把她的象鼻放进嘴巴里。

and it's a sign of respect,

这是表示尊敬的一种动作，

it's kind of like a handshake,

有点像我们的握手，

but it's also like a salute.

但也有点像在行礼。

And this salute is learned at a very young age.

这种行礼在大象很小的时候就学会了。

Now, ritual and bonding within the family

家族内礼制和成员的结合

also facilitates coordinated activities.

也促进它们进行团队协同活动。

So, here's a young female whose calf has fallen into the trough

比如，有一只年轻小雌象掉进了水槽里，

and she doesn't know what to do and she panics.

她不知道该怎么办，感到非常恐慌。

Well, the older female, that's the matriarch,

于是那只年长的雌象，就是雌族长，

she says, "No problem here," she just scoops the baby out.

她会说：”没关系的。“然后把它解救出来。

Now, that's not true for a lot of different families,

现在，这并不是适用于很多其他不同的家族的。

they can't coordinate very well,

它们不能很好的协同，

the younger females don't really know what to do,

年轻雌大象真的不知道该怎么做，

but the older ones will just get down,

年长的就会下来

kneel down together and pick the baby out.

一起跪下把小象给捡出来。

Another thing that's very similar

另一个相似点

is the coming of age of teenage boys.

就是青春期男生的开始年龄。

Male elephants at the age of about 12 to 15.

雄性大象青春期开始于12到15岁。

The biggest elephant in this photograph here

这张图片里最大的那只大象

is an elephant who's about the leave the family.

就是准备离开家庭的一只大象。

He gets too big, he gets a little fresh,

他变得太大，而且开始有性冲动，

the adult females had enough of him,

成年雌性受够他了，

but he also is independent,

但是他也相当独立，

he wants to go out and play with the guys.

他想要出去跟其他雄性大象一起玩。

So what happens then is that you have this all male society,

所以接下来出现的就是我们有了一个全雄性团体，

very ritual male society.

一个礼节性的雄性团体。

Greg is our main dominant bull here,

Greg是我们这里的主要支配者，

you can see him in the middle.

他就在这个图片的正中央。

He's got a huge posse, his following reveres him.

他有一大队大象并且他的跟随者非常仰慕他。

And it's very interesting how very good leaders,

而且很有趣的是很好的领导者，

very good dominant individuals

很好的统治者，

know how to titrate the carrot and the stick.

是怎样知道如何平衡胡萝卜和棍子。

This guy's a master at it,

这家伙在这方面是一个大师。

and there's other bullies out there

其他的强势大象

that want to kind of want to create their own little following,

有点想要成立自己的小团队，

but they can't do it because they're too agressive.

但是他们做不到因为他们攻击性太强。

And so when he's not around

所以当Greg不在的时候，

they try and sweet talk the underlings to come into their fold,

他们尝试用甜言蜜语劝说Greg的下属进入他们的团队，

and they actually become less agressive.

他们后来变得没那么有攻击性了。

So it's very interesting to see how politics play out

所以观察这些政治

in these male and female societies.

在雄性和雌性团体中是怎么玩的很有趣。

Now back to the ladies here.

现在让我们回到雌性团体中。

In a core family group you'll have a mother,

在一个核心家庭里你会发现有一位母亲，

maybe even a grandmother,

甚至可能是奶奶，

her daughters and all of their offspring,

以及她的女儿们和她们的所有的后代，

the male and female calves.

包括小雄象和小雌象。

And what's very interesting here

这里接下来很有趣的是

is that how character makes a difference.

性格会对族群行动产生怎样不同的影响。

So each matriarch has a very different character.

每个雌族长都有不同的性格。

These two characters are kind of curious,

这两只有点好奇，

they're uncertain,

不确定，

whereas these other two characters are really agressive.

而另外这两只族长性格非常有攻击性。

"We're going to charge first, ask questions later."

”我们先向前冲，等下再问问题。“

But then there are also matriarchs that say,

但随后有些雌族长大象则会说：

"Forget it! I'm going to run first

”先不管了，我先跑了，

and then figure it out when we're in the bush

等下进了灌木丛在搞明白，

and it's safe."

那里安全。”

But the wisest matriarch,

但是在我们所有的研究中，

最聪明的雌族长，

the matriarchs that succeed best

也就是最成功的雌族长，

in all of the studies that have been done,

is the one that assesses the danger

是会衡量风险

and decides is this worth running away from

并且决定是不是值得逃跑

or is this not a big deal at all.

还是没什么大不了的。

Now being social is super important for elephants

懂得社交对于大象是非常重要的。

and of course right at the beginning,

当然在刚开始的时候，

just like early childhood development,

比如小象的早期成长中，

socialization is very important.

社交就非常重要。

Bathing together, eating together, playing together,

它们一起洗澡，一起进食，一起玩耍，

rough housing, this is all very important

粗略的打扫，这些对于他们社交的发展

都很重要。

for social development.

谁没有尝试过把队伍里前面的兄弟姐妹

And who hasn't tried to beat their sibling

to the head of the line coming into the water hole?

推进水坑呢？

And these relationships from the beginning

这些关系从一开始

is just like best friends forever for real.

就像永远是最好的朋友一样真实。

These females are going to live together for life.

这些雌性大象将会一生住在一起。

Now if it's a male, female they might know each other for life,

现在，如果它是雄性的话，雌大象可能会一辈子都记住他。

but it's really important to develop those bonds early on.

但是早点建立那样的联系是很重要的。

Those are the relationships that are going to save you later.

这些关系可能在以后会救你一命。

I'll show you a little schoolyard scenario here.

在这里我给你展示一个小小的学校场景，

Where, I think if you just focus on what's happening here

在这里，我想让你只关注图片里发生了什么。

you can see that we have the bully,

你可以看到这里出现了欺凌现象，

he's pulling on the trunk of this baby calf,

雄性大象正在扯小象的象鼻。

and then we have the diplomat

然后我们有这个调停人，

who's reaching over and saying,

它正靠过来并说道：

"No, don't do that! Stop doing that!"

”不行！不要那样！快停下来！“

And then, of course, we have the bystander.

然后，当然也有旁观者，

And how do you get these three different characters

你会发现这里怎么有三种不同性格的大象

within the family?

在一个家庭团体中的呢？

It's kind of fascinating to think that elephants

想到大象跟我们一样

really are just like us.

真是有点神奇。

And so I got curious about this

所以我对这个很感兴趣，

and I thought, "Well, what if you measure

然后我就想，”这样啊，那如果我去找

the difference in character of a dominant female's calf

雌族长大象后代的和等级地位低的大象后代的

versus a lower-ranking female's calf,

性格上的区别，

and see what happens in their growing up."

看看它们长大后会怎么样。“

And so we started doing this.

所以我们就开始这么做了，

And you can see this little guy with his ears out,

你可以看到这只耳朵朝外的小象

really charging at you.

真的是在向你冲过来。

The difference between that character

这只小象的性格

and the character who holds back,

和那只在后面退缩的

wants to touch mom,

想要碰下妈妈的

isn't so certain about what's going on here.

不知道发生了什么的小象是不同的。

But the other one's charging ahead all confident.

那一只小象是很自信的向前冲。

Well, we started measuring how far away

我们开始测量小象和母亲

a calf will stray from mom,

能相距有多远，

how often do they touch others,

小象多久碰一下其他人，

how often do they initiate play,

还有它们多频繁地玩耍，

and then look at the dominance of the females, of their mothers.

然后再看看它们的母亲是不是族长，还是排位较低。

And what we found is that socializing with the dominant calves

然后我们发现，族长的孩子其实

actually socialize more significantly more than the lower-ranking calves.

比低等级地位大象的孩子具有更明显更好的社交能力。

And what it looks like is

并且这看来

it's not that the lower-ranking calves don't want to play,

并不是因为这些低等级小象不想参与，

they're actually not allowed to interact

而是它们不被允许和

with the higher-ranking calves.

高等级小象之间进行交流。

They get swatted away from the dominant females.

它们会被雌性支配者大象给赶走。

and so this is kind of the downside of,

所以这算是一个不好的方面。

okay we are very much like elephants,

好吧我们很像大象，

elephants are as much like us,

大象也很像我们，

but it's kind of for better or for worse

但这不管怎样说都有点...

because I can also see this happening in humans

因为我看到我们人也有这样的，

and maybe we should take a lesson from that.

也许我们应该吸取这样的教训。

One last thing that we found

最后一点，我们发现

is that the males will be the risk-takers,

雄性是敢于冒险的，

they're more independent

他们更加独立，

and they're more likely to spend more time away from mom.

并且他们更有可能花更多时间在远离母亲的生活。

And that's very true in human societies

这在人类社会中也是一样的，

and with other social animals.

其他社会性动物也是。

So I hope I've convinced you

所以我希望我能说服你

that we have very similar lives to elephants

我们其实与大象有着相似的生活，

and that elephants have very individual, durable

大象性格都有着相当独立，持久的性格，

characters that we've measured across years.

这是我们几年研究所发现的。

The bully always tends to be the bully

喜欢欺凌其他大象的常常会去欺负其他大象，

unless there's some kind of social upset,

除非它们遇到了某种社交困难

and he decides he better be a softy

让他们选择最好变得友善一点，

or else he's not going to gain favor at all.

否则他是不会得到大家的拥护的。

And then you have the gentle giants

然后，我们发现性格温和的大象，

that are always going to be gentle.

一直都会很温和。

The young males really need mentoring from the elders,

那些年轻雄性真的需要长辈们的辅导，

and those gentle giants are very good at doing that,

那些温和的大象对此也十分在行，

soliciting them.

以很好态度地跟他们讲。

Leaving family is a really hard things for the males,

离开家庭对雄性大象来说是一个非常难的事情，

but they survive and they figure out who to hang out with.

但是他们会继续生存下去，并且找到一起玩的其他大象。

So, just to end here, I just wanted to say that

所以，作为结束，我想说

since they are so similar to us,

既然他们跟我们相似，

and have these characters,

也有如此的性格，

I hope when you see them on TV

我希望你们在电视上看到它们时

or you go out and you're lucky enough to see them in the wild,

或者幸运的在野外碰到它们时，

that maybe you'll think of them

可能你会想到它们

as individual characters deserving of our attention,

有着值得关注的不同的性格，

and also deserving of our protection. Thank you.

也值得我们去保护。谢谢。