A black rhino has appeared to fly as it is air-lifted out of the South African bush to a new location in an extraordinary set of photographs. The surreal images show the 2,200-pound herbivore slung from a helicopter over stunning rivers and over rolling vegetation all whilst blindfolded.
一組照片不同尋常地記錄了一架直升機「吊著」一頭黑犀牛「飛」出了南非的叢林，送往新的棲息地。在這些離奇的照片中，這頭重達2200磅的食草動物蒙著雙眼，吊在直升機上，穿越青山綠水。
Another picture shows the rhino floating through the clouds. Other shots show the critically endangered species fitted with a tracking device and being lowered to the ground. The spectacular images were taken at the Great Fish River Reserve, South Africa.
另一張照片中犀牛「飄浮」在雲層中，而另一些照片記錄了人們給這個瀕危物種戴上追蹤器，送到地面。這些照片拍攝於南非的大魚河保護區，令人印象深刻。
Professional wildlife and conservation photographer Pete Oxford, 58, from Torquay, Devon, was behind the lens. "I was living and working in a National Park in South Africa and was associated with documenting many animal captures and relocations," Pete said.
而這些照片都源自皮特·歐克斯福德的鏡頭。皮特來自英國德文郡的託爾坎鎮，今年58歲，是一名專業的野生動物攝影師，還是一名野生動物保護者。他說：「我當時居住在南非的一個國家公園，並在那工作，我的任務是記錄許多動物被捕獲以及運往新棲息地的過程。」
"Based on this I was asked to document the capture and relocation of a new founder population of fifteen black rhino from a well-managed and protected reserve in South Africa to an undisclosed new location in the north of the country. "The idea was to establish a new population with good anti-poaching protection to help to geographically diversify black rhinos in South Africa.
「由於我的工作經歷，記錄這個只有15頭的珍稀動物的『新成員』的任務落到了我身上。我負責記錄它從一個管理良好，保護完善的保護區運到南非北部的一個秘密的棲息地。」這一做法是為了在沒有偷獵者的威脅下保護這一物種，使得黑犀牛在南非實現地理的多樣化。
"Black rhino can be airlifted by a helicopter, they live in an impenetrable habitat. "With a Robinson 44 helicopter we darted the rhino from the air and then were lowered to the ground. "A Super Hewi helicopter then flew over us, lowered a chain and we slung the animal to be pulled vertically out of the thick bush and transported to the nearest road.
「黑犀牛由一架直升機運往秘密的安全棲息地。」犀牛「乘」羅賓遜R-44號直升機抵達棲息地。「一架Super Hewi 直升機從我們上方飛過，降下一根鏈子，我們將犀牛掛在上面然後從茂密的灌木叢將它直直地拉出來，送到最近的路上。」
Few rhino live outside of protected habitats with human poaching for horns to be used in traditional medicine playing a large factor in their declining numbers. According to WWF, there are just over 5,000 black rhino left on the planet. "Conservation of this magnitude is expensive and needs support, conservation in general should be done by all of us and starts at home," said Pete.
隨著人們獵殺犀牛，取它們的角入藥，很大程度上造成了它們的數量銳減，現在生活在保護區外的犀牛數量很少。據世界自然基金會的消息，現存的黑犀牛數量只有5000多頭。「保護這一珍稀物種費用昂貴，並且需要幫助支持，一般的保護需要我們所有人共同完成，並且從我們國內開始，」皮特說道。
"Rhino horn is worth its weight in gold and threats to all of the world’s rhino populations are grave everywhere. Protection is costly and often too much of a financial burden for National Parks or private areas where rhino are found." To take the photos, Pete used a Nikon D3S camera, a brand he has used for 18 years.
「犀牛角堪比黃金，同時卻也嚴重威脅著全世界各地所有犀牛的數量。保護措施費用昂貴，對於存在犀牛的國家公園或者私人地區來說通常也是難以承重的財政負擔」。皮特使用了一臺尼康D3S相機拍攝了這些照片，他用尼康這個牌子用了18年。
（編輯：何瑩瑩）