Natural History

The Daily Mail has a wonderful story of zoological ineptitude :

Vets say it’s impossible – but to Chinese farmer Liu Naiying his birth is a miracle.

For Mr Liu insists one of his sheep has given birth to a dog

The ‘puppy’ has wool like a lamb but its mouth, nose, eyes, paws and tail look more like a dog’s.

His ‘sheep dog’ even plays like a hound.

The birth has prompted thousands to flock to his farm in Shaanxi Province to see for themselves.

Mr Liu told how he found the unusual baby animal shortly after it was born in one of his fields.

‘I was herding the sheep, and saw a sheep licking her newborn lamb on the grassland. The lamb was still wet,’ he said.

‘When I went up close to check on the lamb I was shocked because it looked so weird, like a cross between a sheep and a dog.

‘I was a bit frightened, as I’ve been raising sheep for 20 years and had never seen such a creature.’

Yue Guozhang, a researcher at Xi’an City Animal Husbandry Technology Centre, said sheep and dogs were different species.

‘It’s not possible that a sheep could become pregnant with a puppy,’ he said. ‘It’s likely that this is just an abnormal lamb.’

Um. No.

Closer inspection of another photo of this creature reveals its identity perfectly.

It’s not a sheep/dog hybrid. And it’s not an abnormal sheep.

The scientific name for this particular monster is Canis lupus familiaris.

It’s a domestic dog with matted fur. Its feet are very clearly seen in that bottom photo, and everything about it says dog.

It may be a puppy or a small adult dog. The coat seems awfully matted to be from a puppy, but it is still possible.

My guess is the ewe lost her lamb and came across this cute little dog. The cuteness of the canine brought out the ewe’s maternal instincts, and that’s why the farmer found her licking it.

But it’s a dog.

It may be a puppy, but I’d still like to know more before making a conclusion. I’ve never seen a puppy so matted. It appears to have some sort of skin condition, which could contribute to is disheveled coat.

But it’s not a “sheep/dog hybrid.”