A mother kangaroo has been captured reaching out to cuddle her joey one last time before she died.

袋鼠妈妈临死之前伸出手，试图最后一次去拥抱自己那年幼的小袋鼠。

The photographer, Evan Switzer, captured the moment on a bushland property in River Heads, Queensland, Australia.

在澳大利亚昆士兰州河头镇的一处原始林区，摄影师埃文·斯威策捕捉到了这一幕。

He noticed what was going on while he was on a walk on the property on Monday morning.

周一早上他在林区散步时，看到了袋鼠一家。

The mother was dying under the shade of a mango tree, and being supported by a male companion as she reached out for her joey.

在芒果树下有一只奄奄一息的雌袋鼠，她躺在雄袋鼠的臂弯，费力的想要伸出手来拥抱幼崽。

Mr. Switzer told the Daily Mail: "I saw the male pick up the female, he looked like he was just trying to get her up and see what was wrong with her.

斯威策告诉《每日邮报》：“我看到雄袋鼠托着雌袋鼠的头，想要把她托起来，看她哪里不舒服。”

"He would lift her up and she wouldn't stand she'd just fall to the ground, he'd nudge her, stand besides her ... it was a pretty special thing, he was just mourning the loss of his mate."

“雄袋鼠想将雌袋鼠托起，但她站不起来，反而倒了下去。他站在旁边试图轻轻推她……这一幕很特别，伴侣的离去令他很悲伤。

As she died, the male propped up her head so she could see her joey before she passed away.

雌袋鼠将死时，雄袋鼠把她的头托起，以便她能在离世前再看一眼幼崽。

The joey stared at her the whole time, and stood in a protective stance near her body.

小袋鼠的目光没有离开母亲过，以一种保护的姿势站在母亲身边。

After she died, her male companion guarded the corpse.

雌袋鼠死后，雄袋鼠守护着她的尸体。

He chased after any kangaroos that came near her corpse.

只要有别的袋鼠靠近，他就会驱逐他们。

After the photographer saw what was going on, he ran home to get his camera.

摄像师看到这一幕后，赶紧跑回家去拿照相机。

Mr. Switzer has been walking there twice a day for ten years and said he had never seen anything like it.

十年来，斯威策每天都来这散步两次，他说他从来没有见过这种场景。

"I’ve travelled around a bit and you see a lot of dead roos on the side of the road – but I've never seen anything like that before," he said.

他说：“我来这儿散步时，会发现路边有许多死了的袋鼠，但我从来没有见过这种场景”。

"The male would chase the other kangaroos that came around away – he was sort of protective over the female.

“只要有袋鼠靠近那只雌袋鼠的尸体，雄袋鼠就会驱逐他们——他在保护她。”

"The young one looked kind of confused, it would stand by the mother and then hop off and chew some grass, and then come right back again."

“小袋鼠看起来有些迷惑，它一会站在妈妈身旁，一会又离开去吃些草，然后又会回到妈妈身边。”

The photographer was unsure how the female kangaroo died. She had no visible injuries.

摄像师并不知道这只雌袋鼠是怎么死的，她身上并没有明显受伤的痕迹。

However, it looks as if this story has taken a shocking twist later.

不过，这个故事后来似乎又发生了惊人大逆转。

Experts have said the male kangaroo may not have been mourning after all.

专家称，雄袋鼠可能根本不是在伤心。

Dr Mark Eldridge at the Australian Museum told the BBC the male kangaroo was trying to lift the female in order to mate with her.

澳大利亚博物馆的马克·埃尔德里奇博士告诉BBC，雄袋鼠想把雌袋鼠托起来，其实是想与她交配。

Not only was he trying to mate with the dying animal, an expert said he could have caused the death.

不仅是要与垂死的雌袋鼠交配的问题，更有专家认为，雄袋鼠还可能一手造成了雌袋鼠的死亡。

Dr Derek Spielman at the University of Sydney told the Guardian: "Competition between males to mate with females can be fierce and can end in serious fighting,"

悉尼大学的德莱克·斯皮尔曼博士对《卫报》表示：“雄袋鼠之间争夺交配权的竞争非常激烈，可能导致恶性打斗。”

“It can also cause severe harassment and even physical abuse of the target female, particularly when she is unresponsive or tries to get away from amorous male.”

“这种打斗还可能给雌袋鼠带来严重伤害，甚至使她们身体受伤，尤其当雌袋鼠不配合或试图逃脱求偶的雄袋鼠时。”