冬の放牧地目指す、トナカイの大移動　ノルウェー

【トロムセ（ノルウェー）ＡＦＰ＝時事】ノルウェー極北で白や茶、灰色の毛並みのトナカイの群れが、冬の放牧地に向かい、山を登り、氷河を泳ぐ。（写真はノルウェーのヨーケルフィヨルドを泳ぐトナカイ）
　ＡＦＰのフォトグラファーは１４日間にわたり、夏を過ごしたセグルビクからフィンランド国境近くのカウトケイノに戻るトナカイの群れに密着した。
　トナカイは北欧の先住民サーミ人が半遊牧状態が飼育しており、夏と冬には放牧地を変えるため、大移動をする。
　二つの氷河を迂回（うかい）して、ヨーケルフィヨルド氷河の麓に到着する。この氷河は欧州で唯一、海に流れ込んでいる。
　サーミ人は四輪バイクや徒歩、船でトナカイの後を追う。
　アンテ・ニイラス・ガウプさん（３７）は、口笛を吹いてトナカイの群れに進路を示す。脇では犬がほえていた。トナカイは本能に導かれ正しいルートを進んでいくことが多いという。
　「歩きたくなければ歩かない。自分たちが決めたやり方で、やりたいように少しずつ歩く」と語った。
　険しい崖やフィヨルドなどの移動が難しい場所では立ち止まり、サーミ人の合図を待つ。
　フィヨルドの真ん中で、小さなモーターボートに乗ったサーミ人が、対岸への道を示すため鐘を鳴らす。
　泳ぐ準備ができると一列になり飛び込む準備をする。数百頭が水に飛び込むと、うなりながら一斉に対岸に向かい泳いだ。
　対岸に到着すると、冬を過ごすカウトケイノへの旅も終盤だ。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】
〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2023/10/13-17:23）

A herd of reindeer with white, brown or grey coats climb mountains and swim between glaciers on their great migration to their winter pasture in Norway's far north.
Over fourteen days, an AFP photographer followed the Kautokeino reindeer on their way back from their summer pasture in Seglvik to the Kautokeino lands near the Finnish border.
The reindeer -- bred by the indigenous Sami reindeer herders that span northern Europe -- are semi-nomadic and travel across vast expanses as they move between their winter and summer grazing grounds.
To make their journey home, the reindeer bypass two glaciers before arriving at the foot of the Jokelfjord glacier -- the only one in Europe which drains into the ocean.
The Sami follow their animals on quad bikes, on foot, or by boat.
Ante Niillas Gaup, a 37-year-old Sami herder, whistles towards the herd to show them the path to take. But the herder, accompanied by his barking dogs, says mostly they are driven by their instinct to follow the right route.
If they don't want to walk, they don't walk -- they do it little by little as they want, when they decide, said Gaup.
When they reach obstacles such as a steep wall or crossing a fjord, the reindeer stop and wait for a signal from the herders.
A Sami herder in a small motorboat in the middle of the fjord rings a bell to show them the way to the opposite bank.
When they are ready to swim, the reindeer form themselves into a single file, preparing to dive in.
Hundreds of the animals then launch into the water, grunting as they head for the other shore in a synchronised swim.
Once they reach land again, they are on the final leg of their journey to Kautokeino, where they will spend the winter.