聖誕老人style 俄羅斯用馴鹿當警車大綱
Heavy snowfall and chilling temperatures of -30°C do not deter criminals in northern Russia.
即使是漫天大雪和零下三十度的極寒天氣也擋不住俄羅斯北部地區的罪犯們。
Now police trying to maintain law in the region are struggling on their snowMobiles and want to use reindeer to combat crime on the bleak tundra.
當地警方覺得，在這片荒涼的苔原上，比起雪地摩托，使用馴鹿更有利於打擊罪犯和維護法律。
They say that that mammals are more reliable than their machines and can run fast on deep snow thanks to their adaptablehooves.
他們表示，馴鹿比雪地摩托更可靠，因爲馴鹿有天生粗大肥厚的蹄子，能讓它們在積雪較深的地區奔跑速度也非常快。
Some areas of the country’s Arctic region are only accessible by reindeer and the Izvestia newspaper has reported that a gang of Siberia’s indigenous people are using reindeer to make a speedy getaway from crime scenes, leaving police on snowmobiles in their wake.
俄羅斯地處北極圈的某些地區只能靠馴鹿才能到達，據報道，西伯利亞當地的一夥犯罪分子依靠馴鹿快速出入犯罪現場，並把駕駛雪地摩托的警察甩在後面。
Russian police chasing the criminals told the newspaper that their snowmobiles can break down and run out of gas – unlike reindeer.
追捕當地罪犯的俄羅斯警方表示，他們駕駛的雪地摩托有時候會故障拋錨，有時候會耗盡燃料，可馴鹿就不存在這些問題。
Irina Pimkina from the region’s Interior said: ‘Of course we have snowmobiles in service, but one should understand that a machine is a machine.’
警方表示：“雖然雪地摩托能夠使用，但機器畢竟只是機器。”
‘A snowmobile can break down or get stuck in the tundra, but the deer will run at all times.’
“雪地摩托有時候會拋錨有時候會遇到開不過去的地形，可馴鹿什麼地形都能應付，可以一刻不停地奔跑。”
The force believes that the animals will give them an edge in policing the remote area and they have been asking for reindeer recruits for two years.
警方相信如果有了馴鹿的幫助，他們就有了在偏遠地區執法的能力，他們提出馴鹿服役警隊的申請已經有兩年的時間了。
Reindeer’s hooves are unique because they adapt to seasonal weather conditions, Mother Nature Network reported.
馴鹿的蹄子可以說非常獨特，可以適應不同季節的天氣條件。
When ground is soft in the summer, the bottoms of the animal’s hooves act like sponges to provide traction, while the rim of the hoof becomes exposed in the winter.
夏天苔原地面很柔軟，這時候軟軟的蹄子底部就像海綿一樣提供牽引力，到了冬天，蹄子的邊緣就會露出來。
This means that they can cut into ice and snow to stop them from slipping. They even use them to dig down through hard snow so they can find their favourite food – a lichen known as reindeer moss.
這讓馴鹿可以踩進冰雪，不會溜滑。此外，馴鹿還會用蹄子在雪中挖掘他們最喜歡吃的食物--馴鹿苔。
The vision of reindeer may also outperform a snowmobile’s lights, because the animals can see ultraviolet light.
除此之外，馴鹿的視力也遠遠超過雪地摩托的燈光，因爲馴鹿能夠看到紫外光。
Snow reflects up to 90 per cent of UV light and this ability helps the animals to see clearly in dim lighting and landscapes that are largely white, where may objects blend unto the landscape.
由於雪地會反射90%的紫外光，即便在昏暗的照明條件下，只要地面上白色部分較多，馴鹿就能看得一清二楚。
Things like fur and urine, for example, show up clearly in ultraviolet light, compared to what humans see.
毛髮和尿液等物體在紫外光照射下比人用眼睛直接看更加顯眼。
A study by University College London (UCL) revealed in 2011 that reindeer can see light with wavelengths as short as 320 nanometres (nm), considerably below the human threshold of 400 nm.
倫敦大學學院在2011年的一項研究中發現馴鹿眼睛能感知到波長最短爲320納米的電磁波，這大大小於人類所能感知到的最短波長400納米。
Researchers from the University of Tromsø discovered that the eyes of reindeer change colour according to the seasons too.
另有研究發現馴鹿的眼睛顏色會隨着季節的改變而改變。
While it may seem funny that policemen could use reindeer like a police car, the country’s navy already uses animals to enforce rules.
雖然用馴鹿當警車聽上去挺搞笑，可俄羅斯的海軍早就開始使用動物作爲執法交通工具了。
The Russian Defence Ministry uses donkeys patrol the country’s mountain ranges, while the Navy employed the help of dolphins to enable them to detect underwater mines.
俄羅斯國防部爲俄羅斯山區的巡邏兵配備了驢子，而海軍則是在海豚的幫助下探測水雷。
