- A calf born with a fifth leg is causing quite the stir in villages in northern India
- The mutant dairy calf is viewed as a rare animal, expected to bring good luck
- Its owner farmer Hasan Ali believed that it would die quickly but it is eating well
- It is likely the calf’s extra limb belongs to its unborn twin, echoing similar cases
A calf born with a fifth leg is believed to have brought luck to a small village in India.
Visitors to Hasan Ali’s farm in north-east India were shocked to see the mutant dairy calf still alive ten days after being born.
It was the first time those living in the area, which is in the South Salmara region of Assam, had had the chance to see an animal with such a deformity.
Because it is so unusual, villagers came from far and wide to Mr Ali’s farm to see the young animal, believing it would bring them good luck.
Mr Ali said: ‘We were shocked to see a deformed leg hanging from its behind. I have domesticated cows and buffaloes since childhood but never before had I seen such a rare animal.’
The dairy calf born with a fifth leg was not expected to survive but it is reported to be eating well and full of life
People from villages all throughout the South Salmara region of Assam came to view the rare animal, believing it to be a gift from God
A calf born with a fifth limb is as strange as it sounds. It is likely that this calf is carrying the leg of its unborn twin
Mr Ali said that he had feared the calf would die quickly but it is eating well and full of life.
It is believed to be carrying the limb of its unborn twin, echoing a case earlier this year of a cow born with five legs in China’s Guizhou Province.
In this case, where the twin egg did not separate properly during fertilisation, the extra limb did not hurt the animal’s well-being.