A member of the nation’s defense forces spotted a six-legged gazelle prancing in Israel.
The animal had an extra pair of appendages growing on its back, which was caused by a genetic disorder called organ proliferation or polymelia.
This rare syndrome is also found among humans, appearing in fewer than one in every 100,000 births, but has been reported in a variety of mammals, including cows, reptiles, chickens and mice.
The gazelle was spotted in a nature reserve in the southern Negev desert occupied by Palestine and Israel, which is located just a few kilometers from the site of the Hamas music festival massacre.
A member of the nation’s defense forces spotted a six-legged gazelle strolling through the Holy Land of Israel.
The discovery was made by an Israeli army reservist, Nir Leichter, in late March when he stopped for coffee in the Nahal HaBoshor nature reserve.
Leichter quickly took a photo of the animal and sent it to the Society for the Protection of Nature in Israel (SPNI) team in Jerusalem to investigate further, and discovered that the gazelle was born with a mutation.
Wildlife experts determined that the animal was born in 2021 and “survived a complex litter and survived as a young individual, facing many predators that endanger young fawns,” said Amir Balaban of the SPNI.
The gazelle was discovered by an Israeli army reservist who took a photograph and sent it to wildlife officials (here is the photo taken)
Balaban shared a statement in an Instagram post translated from Hebrew to English.
He noted that the gazelle spent most of its life in danger due to its mutation, as the extra legs made it stand out from the herd.
However, the male had also found a mate and now has a calf, which was captured by the IDF reservist.
“Contrary to expectations, the deer is healthy and strong and has three deer and a foal in her nest from last fall,” Balaban shared.
‘He was [been] seen harboring females in the short fields and the extra legs on his back are no challenge for him.
SPNI believes the genetic birth defect is hereditary, but fawn gazelles do not appear to have the same condition.
Balaban said CBS News that the animal was the first gazelle known to have this hereditary condition in the Middle East.
The six-legged gazelle (right) had also found a mate and now has an offspring, which was captured by the IDF reservist.
The animal had an extra pair of appendages growing on its back, caused by a genetic disorder called organ proliferation or polymelia.
The animal was the first gazelle known to have this hereditary condition in the Middle East.
In Israel there are three subspecies: the Israeli gazelle, the Negev gazelle and the Shitim gazelle, of which very few specimens remain, in the Arava region.
There is a visible difference between the sexes, as the male is larger and his horns are longer than those of the female.
The Negev Desert was the scene of a bloodbath in October 2023, when the militant group Hamas descended from the skies into an area where revelers had gathered for an all-night trance music party.
Hamas fighters managed to infiltrate Israel virtually undetected by paragliding across the normally heavily guarded border.
Moments later, the dancing stops and terror ensues as festival-goers are forced to run for their lives as armed Hamas fighters begin shooting and kidnapping anyone who gets in their way.
Terrified Israelis were seen screaming, running and scrambling into their cars as they tried to escape the festival in the northwestern Negev desert, about 5 miles from the town of Ofakim.