Four legs good, five legs better in the animal world

Never mind Easter bunnies and Easter chicks. Here's news of a four-legged duck, a five-legged frog and a six-legged pig.

The duck was born at the Warrawee Duck Farm in the New Forest earlier this year. Not expected to survive, he was christened Stumpy by his owners, Paul and Nicky Janaway, but he is now almost fully grown, having taken his first swim in a paddling pool. "He's doing really well, and he waddles around with his extra legs acting a bit like stabilisers," said Mrs Janaway. "He won't be allowed to roam the farm because his back legs stick out and get caught in brambles, So we're making a big pen for him."

No such special treatment, alas, for the five-legged frog spotted last week in a stream near Peterborough. A local amateur naturalist, Sharon Harris, was stunned to see the creature, which had three rear legs, and was in the company of other frogs with limb deformities in a popular beauty spot, Cuckoo's Hollow. "I was amazed to see them swimming about," said Ms Harris. "They are fully grown, but they've got extra limbs growing out their legs."

The piglet with six legs was born a week ago in Lianyungang, China; its spare limbs were emerging from the side of its buttocks.

Animals with extra appendages are not as rare as one might think; there have even been several cases of snakes found with two heads in recent years, including a two-headed corn snake at San Diego Zoo, which was named Thelma and Louise. She - or they, if you prefer - lived for several years and had 15 perfectly normal young.

Jim Foster, the amphibian specialist for the Government's wildlife watchdog, Natural England, visited Cuckoo's Hollow and found frogs with limb deformities. "The trouble is, whatever caused it will have happened in the larval stage, when they were tadpoles, and that would have been two or three years ago, as the animals are now fully grown," he said.

Although some people felt the deformities could have been caused by a chemical spill three years ago, when soap and shampoo leaked into the water, Mr Foster thinks they may have been caused by parasite infestation of the tadpoles.

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