The body of a two-faced kitten has been preserved so scientists can probe what caused the mutation.
A farmer was left shocked when his cat gave birth to the kitten, which appeared to have two faces - one on either side of its head.
He took it to a school Amalfi, a town in Colombia, in a cardboard box, hoping pupils could use it in their science class.
But baffled teachers
rejected the creature because they did not know what to do with it.
One claimed the animal
still looked to be alive, despite the farmer reporting that it was dead.
"I have never
seen in my entire life a kitten with two heads. Finally we decided not to keep
the body because we do not have the proper equipment to keep it in."
The kitten was taken
to the agriculture department, where the secretary of rural development
Maricela Escobar Diaz was told about the bizarre case.
Andres Garcia
Carbajal, vet of the city council, said the deformity could have been caused by
a number of factors.
He added: "The
malformation might be caused by natural factors, or even linked with the food
eaten by the mother. It is actually a bizarre case."
The kitten was kept in
formaldehyde to preserve it so tests can be carried out.