An Austrian hunter bagged some very special game near the village of Székkutas, Csongrád-Csanád County in South-Eastern Hungary. A man named Jürgen Jansenberger shot a five-legged deer buck on 1 August, the Kaszaper-Végegyház Landowners’ Hunter Society has shared on their Facebook page.
‘On 1 August, our Austrian guest hunter, Jürgen Jansenberger, visited the Petőfi Hunting Association in Székkutas for a roe deer hunt—and struck rare luck on his very first outing! He bagged a five-legged roe deer—yes, you read that right. The buck had an extra limb growing from the inside of its thigh, complete with a hoof and claw.
Remarkably, despite this unusual abnormality, the animal was in excellent health, with perfectly formed antlers, and had no trouble moving about. The antlers were estimated to weigh around 350 grammes [12.3 ounces]. The buck was well known to local professional hunter Tibor Soós, who had been observing it for years—making this harvest especially noteworthy,’ they wrote about the shooting of the unusual animal in their public message.
Even spotting a wild animal with an extra limb is extremely rare, let alone shooting one. Only three documented sightings of such an animal were made available to the public last year. In most of those rare cases, the deformity is caused by a congenital defect called polymelia.
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