An unusual piglet with four extra limbs has been born in the Sichuan Province of China at farmer Tan Yongxiu's farm. The octopig was born on 2 August along with seven other siblings who all popped out completely normal.
The octopig has two extra front legs, which are about three to four cm long under the belly, and two extra hind legs, which are about 7 to 8 cm long, dragging on the ground.
Yongxiu, 63, was not at home at the time of the piglet's birth and he was informed by his wife that a "six-legged monster" has been born. When Yongxiu took the piglet to the pigsty and cleaned it, he realised that it actually has eight legs.
Yongxiu was shocked to discover the four extra legs jutting out of the piglet's tummy, he told the Daily Mail. Yongxiu also said that in the last 20 years he spent raising livestock, he had never seen anything like it, nor has his 90-year-old mother. Yongxiu suspects the four extra limbs to be the result of some sort of inbreeding or genetic mutation.
Meanwhile, confirming Yongxiu's suspects, Guo Zongyi from the Chongqing Academy of Animal Science told ECNS, "One is inbreeding. But only one in this litter of pigs looks abnormal, so it is unlikely. The other is gene mutations."
Despite this obvious deformity, octopig is not infected with any disease and is edible, said Zongyi. He also said that he had never seen a pig with eight legs before.
The piglet, third eldest in a litter of eight, was delivered at around 8.00 in the morning and is doing well despite having to accommodate four smaller limbs prodruding from its stomach. If not for the extra limbs, the piglet is no different from its siblings, confirms Yongxiu.
Yongxiu has also confirmed that he does not plan on rearing the animal for its meat and wants to see "what it will look like in the future".
This unique eight-legged piglet has become an unlikely celebrity with dozens of experts, reporters, photographers and wierd news enthusiasts flocking to catch a glimpse of it.
Watch a video of this wonder-pig here:
