Rare two-headed calf delivered by Dawson Creek veterinarian

GRAPHIC CONTENT WARNING: This story features content that may be disturbing to some readers.

DAWSON CREEK, B.C. — A veterinarian in Dawson Creek delivered a two-headed calf via C-section last week.

According to Dawson Creek Veterinary Clinic, Dr. Mike Ross delivered the calf on February 16th.

The vet was having trouble pulling the calf, so they opted for a C-section.

The condition is called polycephaly. It results from an abnormality occurring when the embryo split, which would have typically created identical twins but instead did not fully split.

Unfortunately, the two-headed calf born in Dawson Creek did not survive.

According to AZ Animals, animals with two heads are usually born with an oddly shaped body, which makes it hard to move.

Two-headed animals also have trouble getting enough nutrients to their brains to survive because their divided systems can’t pump enough blood to all of the organs.

Due to these reasons, many polycephaly animals do not survive to adulthood, though some have been documented as surviving for at least a few days, including kittens, snakes, turtles and a bearded dragon.

According to case reports, Polycephaly in humans is also rare and has many different forms, depending on the number of organs and limbs.

Giacomo and Giovanni Battista Tocci were born in Italy between 1875 and 1877, with two heads, each with their own arms, hearts, lungs and stomachs. The twins never learned to walk.

Abigail Loraine Hensel and Brittany Lee Hensel were born on March 7th, 1990. According to multiple sources, including BBC, each woman has a heart, stomach, spine, pair of lungs and spinal cord.

They each control one arm and one leg, and they’ve learned to cooperate and coordinate their movements in everyday tasks, including walking and driving.

Both the Hensel and Tocci twins survived to adulthood.

More information on polycephaly can be found on the Huron County Museum’s website.