A two-headed sheep was born in the farm of Hlíðartungu in Ölfus, south Iceland last week.
Veterinarian Páll Stefánsson told the website sunnlendingur.is that while such creatures are rare, he had heard of two similar instances in the country. While the lamb was born alive, Stefánsson was compelled to put the animal to sleep the following day.
“Deformities are unfortunately a part of what happens,” he said, “but an individual with large deformities, such as this lamb, will never be able to live in a natural environment.”
Farmer Björgvin Ásgeirsson described the lamb’s first moments in saying that he knew something was wrong when the sheep that was giving birth was having difficulty with labor. When the lamb was born, “it opened both mouths to bleat, even though it only has one set of vocal chords. The nostrils also flared simultaneously when the lamb breathed. It was pretty creepy to see.”
Full sized photos at sunnlendingur.is.