By Anna Burns-Francis
A Dunedin farmer has been surprised to find an unusual four-legged creature in amongst his flock.
Graeme Wallace is now the owner of a rare breed, a cross between a sheep and one of its closest cousins.
Is it a sheep? Or is it a goat?
No, it’s a “geep”.
Mr Wallace was bringing his spring lambs in for tailing when he noticed an odd one out.
“I looked down and there was this um, well it wasn't a lamb and it wasn't a goat so I thought it's gotta be some sort of a hybrid or something.”
It has the body of a lamb but the head and legs of a kid.
Mr Wallace has a fair idea how the crossbreed came from.
“Well we have feral goats. So im picking a billy goat got to the ewe."
It is rare but not unheard of; this is only the second recorded case in New Zealand since 1990.
“During that time I think the reported cases in the world is probably less than half a dozen,” says agriculture researcher Dr Sin Phua.
Despite geep's unusual parentage, his mother treats him as just another of her bouncy offspring.
And for now, the woolly wonder is safe from the freezing works.
3 News
source: newshub archive
