In November 2013, farmer Paddy Murphy witnessed one of his sheep mating with a goat. Five months later, the sheep gave birth to a sheep-goat hybrid, which Murphy refers to as his first "geep". "This is the progeny of a goat out of a sheep. He's a week old now. He's like a deer, it's unbelievable, he's so fast you'd have to get him into the pen to catch him. There's no chance you would catch him otherwise," explained an amused Murphy in an interview with the Irish Farmers Journal.
The geep is in good health, with video footage displaying the happy hybrid scuttling around Murphy's farm, in County Kildare, Ireland. The ewe responsible for this unlikely birth is said to have taken to her offspring immediately, with no signs of wishing to abandon the young geep.
While this is possibly the only living geep in Ireland, it's not uncommon for a goat to attempt coitus with a sheep. However, this usually results in the hybrid dying during pregnancy or being still born. Murphy's geep, it would appear, is lucky to be alive.
Indeed, the discussion over the possibility of sheep-goat hybrids dates back hundreds of years. In Darwinism -- An Exposition Of The Theory Of Natural Selection With Some Of Its Applications, published 1889, British naturalist Alfred Russel Wallace wrote of his correspondence with a "Mr.Low," who detailed various aspects of the hybrid during his travels: "Hybrids bred from goat and sheep are called 'chabin' in French, and 'cabruno' in Spanish. In Chile such hybrids are called
'carneros lanudos'; their breeding inter se appears to be not always successful, and often the original cross has to be recommenced to obtain the proportion of three-eighths of he-goat and five-eighths of sheep, or of three-eighths of ram and five-eighths of she-goat; such being the reputed best hybrids."
Other known instances of living geeps have appeared in Botswana in 2000, New Zealand in 1990 and France in 1988. However, there may be many other instances of non-documented living hybrids.
As for Murphy, he intends to keep his geep, so long as it behaves. "He's an unusual character", said Murphy, "but if it becomes a nuisance, it'll have to be got rid of."
Head to the IFJ to see a video of the little guy in action.