When a stillborn calf was removed from a cow in a small kraal on the outskirts of Bergville on Sunday, it sent shock waves not just throughout the region, but the whole country. According to eyewitnesses, the calf had human-like features.
“Photographs taken do not do it justice. It looks human – the eyes, mouth, skin on its back and neck, as well as the genital areas are all human to look at,” says Okhahlamba Local Municipality Communications Officer Suraya Asmal, who saw the calf shortly after its birth. She repeatedly stressed that the photos circulated do not do the human-like qualities of the calf justice. “When you see it in the flesh, it looks human.”
The story made the front page of the Daily Sun Newspaper yesterday (Wednesday). They concentrated on the calf’s human-like qualities.
Farming experts, however, believe the calf is just a premature birth.
“Samples of the calf have been sent to our labs for analysis,” a spokesperson for the Department of Agriculture said.
According to the department, it is most likely just a premature calf born with both male and female genitals.
Police spokesperson Captain Charmaine Struwig stressed that it is an offence to have intercourse with any animal. But convictions rely on the perpetrator being caught in the act of having sex with an animal.
We will update this story with more photos.
What do you think? Is it half human or just a natural freak of nature?
