Stumpy the duck is down to three legs
By Sally Peck
20/04/2007
Stumpy, the duck that entered the limelight after being born with four legs, has lost one of his extra limbs after getting it caught in his pen.
Stumpy was born with four legs...
Stumpy was born at the Warrawee Duck Farm in the New Forest, Hampshire, on February 7, and made his debut on television at 8 weeks, as his owners hailed his astonishing survival.
At the time, farm owner Nicky Janaway, 43, said she would keep him as a pet, but said she would have to confine him to a special pen rather than allowing him to roam the farm with the other ducks, because his back legs were in danger of getting caught in brambles.
Now, after catching one of his extra limbs in his special pen, Stumpy is down to only three legs.
But it's not all bad news for the little duck-- he can now roam the farm with his "girlfriend", Alice, and the other ducks, because he is no longer at risk of being caught in hedges.
Mrs Janaway said: "It has given him his freedom because if he had got his leg stuck in a hedge like he did in the pen, I would never have found him. The other leg is tucked up so it has no chance of getting stuck."
... but he now has three
The accident happened when Stumpy got his fourth leg caught in the fencing surrounding his pen. Mrs Janaway said: "He clean snapped it but he had no idea anything had happened so he may not have had any sensation in it.
"We whisked him off to the vet who finished off what he had started and cleaned it up.
"The good thing that has come out of it is that he can now roam the farm and he and his girlfriend duck, Alice, are harassing the others.
Mrs Janaway said she was shocked when she first turned Stumpy over after he hatched to find out his sex and was confronted by so many legs.
She said: "It was absolutely bizarre. I was thinking 'he's got too many legs' and I kept counting '1,2,3,4'."
The mutation is rare but other cases have been recorded across the world. A duckling called Jake was born in Queensland in Australia in 2002 with four legs but he died soon after.
Stumpy, a four-legged duckling, has become an unlikely national hero after thriving in spite of his rare genetic deformity
-------------------
But despite his apparent strangeness, the ugly duckling, who was born in February, in the New Forest, Hampshire, is the latest in a long line of bizarre mutations thrown up by the animal kingdom
----------------
Two-headed snakes are rare but not unheard of. This snake was found by workers in a hotel garden on the Mediterrannean island of Palma de Mallorca
----------------
Albinism occurs in the natural world. This rare albino squirrel - nicknamed Snowy - was discovered in a back garden in Southsea, Hampshire
-------------
A baby albino alligator swims at Sao Paulo's Aquarium, Brazil
------------
This newly-born white Zebra puzzled wardens at the Nairobi National Park, Kenya, who struggled to understand how it was born without black and white stripes
-----------
This piglet was born with one head, two mouths, two noses and three eyes in Xi'an, northwest China's Shannxi Province
-------------
This is Crinkly, a deformed Bewick swan, who despite having a badly bent neck, managed to migrate 3,000 miles to a nature reserve in Gloucestershire
telegraph.co.uk
By Sally Peck
20/04/2007
Stumpy, the duck that entered the limelight after being born with four legs, has lost one of his extra limbs after getting it caught in his pen.
Stumpy was born with four legs...
Stumpy was born at the Warrawee Duck Farm in the New Forest, Hampshire, on February 7, and made his debut on television at 8 weeks, as his owners hailed his astonishing survival.
At the time, farm owner Nicky Janaway, 43, said she would keep him as a pet, but said she would have to confine him to a special pen rather than allowing him to roam the farm with the other ducks, because his back legs were in danger of getting caught in brambles.
Now, after catching one of his extra limbs in his special pen, Stumpy is down to only three legs.
But it's not all bad news for the little duck-- he can now roam the farm with his "girlfriend", Alice, and the other ducks, because he is no longer at risk of being caught in hedges.
Mrs Janaway said: "It has given him his freedom because if he had got his leg stuck in a hedge like he did in the pen, I would never have found him. The other leg is tucked up so it has no chance of getting stuck."
... but he now has three
The accident happened when Stumpy got his fourth leg caught in the fencing surrounding his pen. Mrs Janaway said: "He clean snapped it but he had no idea anything had happened so he may not have had any sensation in it.
"We whisked him off to the vet who finished off what he had started and cleaned it up.
"The good thing that has come out of it is that he can now roam the farm and he and his girlfriend duck, Alice, are harassing the others.
Mrs Janaway said she was shocked when she first turned Stumpy over after he hatched to find out his sex and was confronted by so many legs.
She said: "It was absolutely bizarre. I was thinking 'he's got too many legs' and I kept counting '1,2,3,4'."
The mutation is rare but other cases have been recorded across the world. A duckling called Jake was born in Queensland in Australia in 2002 with four legs but he died soon after.
Stumpy, a four-legged duckling, has become an unlikely national hero after thriving in spite of his rare genetic deformity
-------------------
But despite his apparent strangeness, the ugly duckling, who was born in February, in the New Forest, Hampshire, is the latest in a long line of bizarre mutations thrown up by the animal kingdom
----------------
Two-headed snakes are rare but not unheard of. This snake was found by workers in a hotel garden on the Mediterrannean island of Palma de Mallorca
----------------
Albinism occurs in the natural world. This rare albino squirrel - nicknamed Snowy - was discovered in a back garden in Southsea, Hampshire
-------------
A baby albino alligator swims at Sao Paulo's Aquarium, Brazil
------------
This newly-born white Zebra puzzled wardens at the Nairobi National Park, Kenya, who struggled to understand how it was born without black and white stripes
-----------
This piglet was born with one head, two mouths, two noses and three eyes in Xi'an, northwest China's Shannxi Province
-------------
This is Crinkly, a deformed Bewick swan, who despite having a badly bent neck, managed to migrate 3,000 miles to a nature reserve in Gloucestershire
telegraph.co.uk
