Slovakia’s Ice Hockey Championship winner may rest in the hands of a two-headed, five-legged tortoise.
According to CBS News, Magdalena is a tortoise who was born with two heads -- one head is named Magda, the other one, Lena. Her situation is similar to that of conjoined twins whose embryos don’t separate correctly during pregnancy. According to The Telegraph, the tortoise would probably not survive in the wild, due to other tortoises excluding her.
But Magdalena is popular among sports fans, as she has been chosen to predict the winner of Slovakia’s Ice Hockey Championship this year.
Magdalena isn’t the only animal born with two heads. A two-headed calf was born in Georgia earlier this year and another two-headed calf was born in Egypt last year.
While Magdalena seems to be receiving proper treatment, other animals are taken advantage of because of their odd appearance. “Freak shows” continue to occur in the U.S., displaying animals with deformities for money. A few years ago, a controversy erupted when a woman fought to purchase a five-legged dog that had been sold to a Coney Island freak show. This year, a cross-eyed opossum has the whole world watching, but some activists argue that the animal has become a celebrity simply due to a poor diet resulting in fat deposits behind her eyes.
WATCH the two-headed tortoise: