Animals No Schiege in northern Germany after all

Disappointment in the sheepfold and at the university: Flumo, a young animal born in mid-August on a remnant farm near Glücksburg in northern Germany, is not a rare Schiege as suspected.

The analysis of the blood showed that it was a sheep and not a mixture of sheep and goat, said livestock researcher Clemens Falker-Gieske from the University of Göttingen to the German Press Agency.

"We are a little disappointed that Flumo is now a sheep after all." It had been hoped that Flumo was a second goat-sheep hybrid that could be researched. Sheep and goats belong biologically to the same subfamily of goat-like animals. However, they have a different set of chromosomes. While goats have 60 chromosomes, sheep have 54, which makes crossbreeding difficult.

Ten years ago, one such hybrid made the headlines when a goat was born in the Göttingen district. Flumo is the only case since then that he is aware of, said Falker-Gieske. "We don't know the number of unreported cases." Of course, it could happen "here and there" that a goat and a sheep produce offspring.

Researchers and owners disappointed

The Göttingen researchers would have liked to use Flumo to deepen their work on hybrids. "We had hoped to have a second goat for analysis with Flumo, because it was difficult for us to work with just one case," said Falker-Gieske. Three individuals are ideal for research work in order to achieve reliable results. The case of the Göttingen goat had led to good results, a second goat would have further validated the research results.

One question, for example, would be whether the genetic process is always the same when a Schiege is created. In addition, the Göttingen goat had an autoimmune disease and the researchers would have liked to have another example to confirm that this is related to the fact that the animal is a hybrid.

The little ram Flumo has white fur with brown patches - just like the goat Rune, who has been living with a small flock of sheep in the paddock behind the house for years. The only ram in the flock has dark fur. The little ram was born when the Flugmodus music festival was held on the farm. So the name for the offspring quickly became clear: Flumo.

Farm owner Dag, who only wants to be known by his first name, told dpa: "I'm not deeply saddened, but I am disappointed." Also because the story is over. His relationship with the little goat will not change. "And Flumo will remain the mascot of the Flight Mode Festival."

SDA