/ 15 June 2000

Goat bears lamb

Jeevan Vasagar

British TV writer Carla Lane recently gave the world an animal tale that, if true, will ignite a scientific sensation: a goat on her sanctuary has given birth to a lamb.

The proud mother is Molly, an 18-year- old nanny goat.

Lane said it happened after Molly was kept in a paddock on the sanctuary, where rams were the only virile male company. “We were dumbfounded. We looked to see if there was anything about it that was a goat, but it is a lamb. It has got the waggly tail, the tight curly coat, the little lamb’s face, and the lamb’s bleat.”

Expert opinion suggested that a goat-sheep hybrid was unheard of, but not beyond the bounds of possibility.