Berlin/Glucksburg. The bass is booming and a little goat is born. Owner Dag was surprised by its fur – and has a suspicion.
On a farm in Flensburg, an almost mythical creature is wandering around, it is so rare. goat named Flumo was born there and amazed the farm owner Dag. In the flock of sheep that lives in the paddock behind Dag’s house, there is only one ram with dark fur – Flumo, however, has white fur with brown spots. Just like Rune, a billy goat that grazes with the sheep.
The suspicion is obvious: Flumowhich owes its name to the techno festival “Flugmodus” – it took place on the same site during the birth of the little goat – is not a sheep. And not a goat either, no, Flumo is said to be a goat. A hybrid, half sheep, half goat. For Dag the farm owner, the surprising fur color is a clear indication that Rune was in a foreign harem. In addition, the fur structure of the little goat is more like that of a goat than a sheep. And when Flumo bleats, you think you’re hearing Rune.
![Billy goat “Rune” is standing in a meadow. Is he the father of little Flume? His grin seems to speak volumes. Billy goat “Rune” is standing in a meadow. Is he the father of little Flume? His grin seems to speak volumes.](https://euro.dayfr.com/content/uploads/2024/08/31/606f9d4987.jpg)
Billy goat “Rune” is standing in a meadow. Is he the father of little Flume? His grin seems to speak volumes.
© DPA Images | Georg Wendt
In fact, Dag had not expected to have children at all. Then his daughter asked him if it was Lamm his moorland sheep Selma? He then looked for a lamb, because his flock had just grown in January, with a ram. The name was curly.
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When he found the lamb, he immediately knew: Locke cannot be the Father Rune was at work here. And he must have hit the jackpot. Biologically, sheep and goats belong to the same subfamily of goats. However, they have a different set of chromosomes. While goats have 60 chromosomes, sheep only have 54. This makes cross breeding extremely difficult.
Family constellation: Moorschnucke Selma, with Flume and the presumed father Rune.
© DPA Images | Georg Wendt
Hybrid animals: Cappuchino bears amazed their keepers
A genetic test that could prove the extremely rare hybrid beyond doubt is still pending. Such a test is quite expensive. But I would find it interesting,” Dag told the German Press Agency. University of Göttingen he has already made contact.
Hybrids are well known in the animal kingdom. Every now and then, Grizzly bears and polar bears common offspring or horses and donkeys are crossed to create mules. But sometimes, rather surprising crossbreeding occurs, ones that make the headlines.
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About ten years ago, in the district Göttingen a ram caused a media reaction. At the time, the now deceased livestock researcher Prof. Christoph Knorr from the University of Göttingen said that a cross between a sheep and a goat only occurred in absolute exceptional cases. To his knowledge, the animal from the Göttingen district was the only scientifically confirmed ram in the world at the time.
At Osnabrück Zoo, however, the Bears colorful and produced so-called cappuccino bears, the product of keeping different bear species in a common enclosure. At the time, zookeepers would not have thought it possible for a polar bear to produce offspring with a brown bear. After the siblings were born in 2004, the species were immediately separated.
Day my Flumo
© DPA Images | Georg Wendt
Flumo can stay – if he doesn’t become a problem goat
Flumo probably doesn’t know that he is probably a very special animal. He sticks close to his mother – at least when strangers are around. Otherwise he sometimes jumps on the backs of other sheep, like Day told. This also reminds one of a goat.
Dag wants the little Bock definitely keep him – as long as the mixed herd gets along. Things could get critical if he grows up and he and Rune become competitors. “I could imagine that Flumo will be a different caliber and then there could be fights.” But we’ll have to wait and see, says Dag.
with dpa