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Duckling With Rare Gene Mutation Born With 4 Legs
Monday, February 19, 2007
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AP
Feb. 17: A rare mutation has left Stumpy with four legs.
LONDON — Webbed feet run in Stumpy's family, but a rare mutation has left the eight-day-old duckling with two nearly full-sized legs behind the two he runs on.
Nicky Janaway, a duck farmer in New Forest, Hampshire, 95 miles southwest of London, unveiled the duckling to reporters on Saturday.
"It was absolutely bizarre. I was thinking 'he's got too many legs' and I kept counting 'one, two, three, four,'" Janaway said.
Stumpy would probably not survive in the wild, but Janaway, who runs the Warrawee Duck Farm in New Forest says he is doing well.
"He's eating and surviving so far and he is running about with those extra legs acting like stabilizers," Janaway said.
The mutation is rare, but cases have been recorded across the world. One duckling named Jake was born in Queensland, Australia, in 2002 with four legs but died soon after.
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