美国阿拉斯加州南部港口城市安克雷奇动物园的工作人员们正在安装一台重1.6万磅（7.3吨）的巨型跑步机，用来帮助一头孤独的大象在阿拉斯加漫长而寒冷的冬季保持“身材”。

    这台长20英尺（6米）的跑步机是专门为动物园中一头名叫麦吉的23岁雌性非洲象设计的。最近，全美都在讨论如何正确对待豢养在动物园里的大象，而被讨论的主角正是麦吉。

    “这台大象跑步机看上去就是普通跑步机的超大版。”阿拉斯加动物园副园长帕特里克·兰皮说。

    这是迄今为止为大象建造的第一台跑步机，所以在设计的过程中，动物园的管理人员和美国爱达荷州的一家公司一起仔细研究了采矿设备和赛马使用的跑步机的构造，兰皮说。

    动物园的管理者们说这头出生在津巴布韦的大象麦吉将在大约两个月之后开始使用这台巨型跑步机。动物园为此特地对麦吉的生活空间进行了改造，把室内和室外空间都扩大了一倍，还增加了一块沙地。另外，动物园还对地板进行了加热，并想办法让地板变得更软一些，兰皮说。

    安克雷奇市和美国全国各地的批评家们强烈要求动物园把麦吉送到气候更温暖的动物保护区去，不要在这个靠近北极的动物园过冬。

    有批评说，大象，特别是母象，是群居类动物，它们需要和同伴们在一起，但是麦吉的伴侣，一头名叫Annabella的亚洲象已经在1997年去世了。

    一年多前，麦吉开始了减肥。兰皮说：“作为一头大象，它稍微有点超重。”

    动物园修改了马吉的食谱，并用新方法促进它多多运动。比如，把食物藏在需要麦吉费点劲才能够着的篮子里或其他地方。麦吉已经瘦了一点，它现在大约有8000磅（3.6吨）多一点。

    “我们估计它的体重可能减了1000磅（454公斤），”兰皮说。

    Anchorage zookeepers are installing a 16,000-pound (7.3-ton) treadmill to keep an isolated elephant from getting fat during the long, cold Alaskan winters.

    Anchorage zookeepers are installing a 16,000-pound (7.3-ton) treadmill to keep an isolated elephant from getting fat during the long, cold Alaskan winters.

    The 20-foot(6-meter)-long treadmill was designed specifically for Maggie, a 23-year-old female African elephant that has become the subject of a national debate over the proper care for captive pachyderms .

    "It looks just like a big people treadmill," said Patrick Lampi, assistant director of the Alaska Zoo.

    Because this is the first treadmill ever built for an elephant, zoo officials and an Idaho company studied mining equipment and treadmills used for race horses, Lampi said.

    Zookeepers said Zimbabwe-born Maggie would start using the treadmill in about two months.

    The zoo is remodeling her indoor and outdoor spaces, making both about twice as large as before and adding a sandy area. In addition, the floor has been heated and the zoo is evaluating ways to make it softer, Lampi said.

    Critics from Anchorage and around the nation have urged the zoo to send Maggie to an elephant sanctuary in a warmer climate and away from the near-Arctic zoo.

    Elephants, particularly females, are herd creatures and need company, critics have said.

    But Maggie's companion, an Asian elephant named Annabelle, died in 1997.

    Maggie's weight-loss program started more than a year ago, Lampi said, "She was slightly heavy for an elephant."

    With diet modifications and new exercise inducements, such as hiding food in baskets and other sites that require some work to reach, Maggie has slimmed down a bit and is now believed to weigh a little over 8,000 pounds (3.6 tonnes).

    "We estimate that she lost maybe 1,000 pounds (454 kg)," Lampi said.