This Could Be a Baby Geep, a Rare Sheep-Goat Hybrid
An Irish farmer claims to have accidentally bred an unusual sheep-goat hybrid, commonly known by the much cuter name "geep."
"I only have white-faced cheviot sheep and when this one came out it was black," farmer Paddy Murphy of County Kildare told The Guardian.
"It was moving a bit too quickly for a lamb, its legs were very long and he even has horns like a goat."
Murphy said he had noticed a goat mating with his sheep, but expected nothing would come of it, The Guardian reported. But something did come of it. And now that something is a local celebrity.
"Ewe gotta be kidding!" screamed the sensationalist agricultural tabloid Irish Farmers Journal.
The baby geep has become the talk of the village pub, which Murphy also owns. He's currently hosting a contest to name the animal as a fundraiser for a sick local child.
But is it really a geep? The hybrids are distinguished by a number of chromosomes in between that of a goat and sheep, and usually have a goat-like tail that extends horizontally from their spines.
"I have no interest in that side of it at all, but if someone wants to come and do tests they are welcome," Murphy said.
