Half-sheep, half-human looking creature frightens villagers
Horrified elders at a remote South African village are convinced a deformed, stillborn lamb, which resembled a human, was “sent by the devil” and born as a result of bestiality and witchcraft.
The superstitious locals at the farming town of Lady Frere, in Eastern Province, believed the creature was part human, after pictures of the creature began to widely circulate through the town.
Eastern Province's Chief Director of Veterinary Services, Dr Lubabalo Mrwebi, confirmed the lamb, which was stillborn, resembled a human but was not part human.
He said the lamb was infected with Rift Valley Fever early in the pregnancy - a fever-causing viral disease, generally found in regions of eastern and southern Africa where sheep and cattle are raised.
“The deformed lamb exhibits signs that are consistent with an early foetal development that went wrong as a result of a viral infection and nothing more.
“We can confirm this not a hoax photo but that the severely deformed lamb was born by a sheep in Lady Frere this week, which at a glance resembles a human form," Dr Mrwebi said.
The Sun has reported a villager was quoted as saying: “The elders when they saw it said it was sent by the devil and was born after a coupling between a man and a sheep and then there was panic.
“Many people are afraid and will not be happy until it is burned” he said.
The Eastern Cape Department of Rural Development veterinary officials are conducting a post-mortem on the lamb, and the results will be provided to the remote town’s citizens.
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