Lisa the Geep

This curious creature is making scientists do a double-take. Meet Lisa the geep... a cross between a goat and a sheep. She was born after an unscheduled amorous encounter on the farm of Klaus Exsternbrink, in Schwerte, in northern Germany's Ruhr Valley. One of his young billy goats leapt over a fence and had a passionate liaison with a ewe.

The result a month ago was Lisa - resembling a lamb in shape and stature, but with the colouring and agile back legs of a goat. Her mother seems unfazed by her unusual offspring and has raised her happily so far.

Now Lisa is booked into a specialist animal medical school in Hanover for genetic tests to determine her hybrid status. "These whims of nature are extremely rare," said the school's Professor Karl-Heinz Waldmann. "But goats are known for their strong sex drive."

So far, it's unclear whether the geep will produce the milk of a goat or a sheep - but the farmer thinks it will be drinkable. "We will find out what the milk and cheese tastes like in the autumn," he said.

Sadly, however, Lisa won't be basking in a proud paternal gaze down on the farm. Two goats were recently slaughtered there and Mr Exsternbrink is unsure which was which. "But one of them was Lisa's father."