千萬藏獒世界最貴 每天海蔘鮑魚進補

　A red Tibetan mastiff has become the priciest dog in the world after being sold for 10 million Chinese yuan, or ?945,000.

一隻紅色藏獒售價一千萬人民幣（945,000英鎊），成爲世界上最昂貴的名犬。

Big Splash, or Hong Dong in Chinese, was bought by a coal baron from the north of China.

Big Splash（中文名叫轟動）被一位來自北方的煤礦大王買下。

And it's lucky his new master is a multi-millionaire, because the hefty price tag doesn't factor in Big Splash's diet – enough chicken and beef to fill a growing 180lb dog, spiced up with Chinese delicacies such as sea cucumber and abalone.

幸運的是，轟動的新主人是個千萬富翁，因爲高昂的售價和它的口糧費用相比，簡直是小巫見大巫。要餵養一條重180磅且正在發育的藏獒，你得準備好充足的雞肉和牛肉，佐以美味的海蔘和鮑魚。

His owner will need a big house too, as adult Tibetan Mastiffs have been known to weigh as much as 286lb, or more than 20 stone – the same as a sizeable rugby player. However the typical weight for a fully grown Tibetan Mastiff is around 13 stone.

狗狗的主人還得準備一間大房子，因爲成年藏獒體重可達286磅（20餘石），和橄欖球運動員的體重不相上下。當然，一般來說成年藏獒的體重約13石。

The high price paid for the dog is a sign that the red Tibetan mastiff has become a status symbol in China, replacing jewellery and cars as a way for the super-rich to show off their wealth.

這次高價競犬表明在中國紅色藏獒已經取代珠寶名車，成爲一種身份的象徵，讓富人得以炫耀自己的財富。

Not only is red considered a lucky colour, but Tibetan mastiffs are thought to be holy animals, blessing their owners' health and security. Tibetans believe the dogs have the souls of monks and nuns who were not good enough to be reincarnated as humans or into Shambhala, the heavenly realm.

不僅紅色寓意吉祥，藏獒也被視爲聖神不可侵犯的動物，可以保佑自己的主人健康平安。藏民篤信狗的體內住着僧侶的靈魂，他們無法轉世投胎，也無法進入香巴拉天國。

Owners of the breed have included Queen Victoria, King George IV and Genghis Khan – who supposedly took 30,000 of the dogs with his army in his bid to conquer Western Europe.

維多利亞女王、喬治五世和成吉思汗都養過該品種。據說，當年成吉思汗征戰西歐之時，還隨隊帶了3萬條狗。

These days there are only around 300 Tibetan mastiffs in the UK, and puppies sell for a more reasonable ?850 to ?1,000.

如今，英國僅存約300條藏獒，幼犬售價850—1000英鎊。