綿羊Chris終於重獲輕鬆

Chris, The World's Woolliest Sheep Gets A Much Needed Haircut

On September 2nd, Canberra's Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA) received news of a woolly creature roaming around in the Mulligans Flat Nature Reserve on the outskirts of the city. When the officials arrived to investigate, they discovered a barely visible ram buried under a giant ball of beautiful merino wool.

9月2日，堪培拉皇家動物保護協會（簡稱RSPCA）收到了報告，說在位於郊區的Mulligans自然保護區有隻毛巨長的傢伙在遊蕩。當相關人員趕去調查時，發現了這隻被厚厚羊毛包裹得幾乎看不到身子的綿羊。

It took five men to bring the errant animal to the rescue center. The poor sheep who was nicknamed "Chris" could barely walk under what appeared to be at least seven years of fleece growth. RSPCA officials knew that to ensure the animal's well-being, they should relieve him of his thick coat as soon as possible. That's because Chris could be harboring some serious infections under the wool and it could also be impeding his need to go to the bathroom.

五個人一起才把這隻遊蕩的小東西帶回營救中心。這隻被人們起名爲Chris的綿羊，身負至少長了7年的羊毛，幾乎不能走動。RSPCA很清楚，要幫助這隻小傢伙，就必須先除去它厚重的毛。因爲它毛下很可能嚴重感染，同時排泄也受到阻礙。

However, the shearing had to be approached carefully. That's because Chris had not been subjected to it for many years and just the process could lead to shock and death. To minimize his trauma, the rescuers decided to mildly sedate the animal. They also enlisted the help of experienced shearer Ian Elkins for the job.

然而，剪羊毛必須謹慎進行。因爲它應該多年無此經歷，這個過程很可能引起驚嚇甚至導致死亡。爲了減小它可能遭受的風險，該組織決定採取溫和的方式使其鎮定下來。同時，他們也找來了經驗豐富的剪羊毛工人Ian Elkins來進行這個工作。

While a lot longer than the three minutes it takes to shear an average sheep with five pounds of fleece, Elkins said he been expecting to spend at least two-three hours on the job. The expert attributes the success of the smooth operation to Chris. The smart sheep appeared to understand what the humans were trying to accomplish and remained surprisingly calm and relaxed through the shearing process.

給大約五磅羊毛的綿羊剃毛僅需大概3分鐘，但是Elkins說給Chris剪也許需要花費2-3個小時。專家們認爲這次的成功主要歸功於Chris自身，它在剪毛過程中十分鎮定和放鬆，彷彿懂得人們是爲了它好。

Chris, who has lost almost half his weight, is now recuperating under the watchful eyes of the rescue center's veterinarians. As for his wool? Turns out it is not of very high quality and therefore, has no commercial value.

Chris身上大概剪去了相當於它原來體重一般的羊毛，現在正在營救中心接受獸醫的監護。那它剪去的羊毛還有用嗎？由於這些經年積累的羊毛質量並不高，所以並沒有什麼商業價值。

譯文屬原創，僅供學習和交流使用，未經許可，請勿轉載。