01 February 2025 , 13:05
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A piglet with a ’human-like’ face and no eyes has been born in the Philippines, with the footage showing the creature crying out a sound that resembles that of a baby.
A pig have birth to a "mutant" piglet that let out a cry resembling that of a human child. The "human-like" pig with the fourth in a litter of eight.
It was the only one to have been born with a deformity. Its owner, Alfredo Cardinas Jr, was left feeling frightened when it was born but what was to come next left him feeling "shocked".
He said: "I was scared when I first saw it. I was even more shocked when I heard it cry. It sounded like it came from a child."
The piglet was born in Tanjay, located south of Manila in the Philippines. Alfredo shared a video of the unusual cry, which has more than 1.5 million views on Facebook.
The video shows the piglet with a "human-like" face and no eyes. Alfredo says he placed the young swine on a blanket on the ground as it struggled to support its own weight.
The infant piglet was then placed on an old sack as it struggled to breathe. It died just four hours after its birth.
Veterinarian Dr Ma Christine Hope Dejadena explained that it is rare just one pig is affected by such a birth defect. However, she ruled out the pig’s mother being impregnanted by another animals.
She said: "The pig would not get pregnant from a different species." Instead, it is believed the piglet was born with a rare birth defect known as holoprosencephaly, reports the Mirror.
Vet Dr Aris Miclat explained: "This is a congenital malformation, which is technically a birth defect. It’s a cephalic disorder in which the forebrain fails to develop into two hemispheres."
Dr Miclat reckons the most likely reason behind the abnormality is that the mother might have been exposed to chemicals or pesticides while pregnant, messing with the piglet’s development inside the womb. He declared: "Almost always, this particular case is fatal."
The vet also ruled out the possibility of the piglet being the product of interbreeding between the mother pig and a human. Alfredo says it wasn’t the first time his sow had given birth to a piglet with abnormalities.
He had previously had a piglet that was born looking as though it had wings protruding from its body. Alfredo however believes the animal brought his family luck, as he was able to invest in a cow and a phone shortly after its birth.
A study found almost three percent of piglets are born with birth defects. At least one piglet is said to have a defect in around 17 percent of litters.
A majority of those with a birth defect died within a week of being born. While the average litter lost two piglets - with the usual litter made up of 10 babies.