When Simba the goat was born on June 4, 2022 in Karachi, Pakistan, its owner Hassan Narejo was stunned by its long ears.

In fact, the Anglo-Nubian goat’s ears are continuing to lengthen as it matures. Currently, its owner is calling for Guinness World Records to check it out and hope it will be recognized and included in this list.

“They accepted our application,” Narejo announced. “Within 10 to 12 weeks, a team from the Guinness Book of World Records will travel to Pakistan to measure its ears.”

Simba belongs to the Nubian goat breed originating from Egypt. They are also nicknamed the “drop-eared goat” due to their significantly longer ears than other breeds. It is the result of many years of evolution to adapt to hot environments. In some parts of Pakistan, temperatures can reach 47°C, which means animals need a larger body surface area to dissipate heat quickly.

According to NPR, Narejo named the long-eared goat after his favorite Lion King character after it was born. And as Simba started to get bigger, Narejo noticed that his ears too. Simba’s ears are 19 inches (about 50 cm) long at birth, and they are constantly growing.

About a week after giving birth to Simba, Narejo posted a photo of the long-eared goat online, and as expected, the photo went viral.

“Within 10 to 12 days of birth, Simba was all over the national and international media – and won an Anglo-Nubian goat beauty contest,” Narejo said.

Since then, Hassan Narejo and Simba’s lives have completely changed. According to NPR, goat collectors in Saudi Arabia, Oman and Pakistan have offered to pay any price to acquire Simba. But Narejo was not interested in selling the goat. While his other 35 goats live outdoors, Simba gets to live in Narejo’s house with him.

“I have an emotional attachment to this goat,” Narejo said, according to NPR. “I bottle-feed the goat myself and help it exercise.”

Simba’s ears are so long that they have to go over his back and need a rope to keep them from touching the ground, so the baby goats don’t step on them while moving. In addition, Narejo’s gives Simba a “peace necklace” with the hope that it can grow healthy.

According to NPR, Hassan Narejo is a Qatar Airways ground worker at Karachi airport and herds goats in his spare time. But Simba’s nascent popularity led to a flurry of offers to buy other goats from Narejo.

And according to experts, they still can’t explain why Simba’s ears are so long – Anglo-Nubian goats usually have long ears, but not as long as Simba’s.

However, having such long ears can also cause some problems for Simba – there is a risk of tripping over the ears and dragging the ears to the ground which could adversely affect the goat’s health, as they may bruise and cause pain to the goat.

For now, Simba’s future certainly looks bright. And Narejo is also pleased with the attention Simba has brought to goat farming, which he says is often looked down upon in Pakistan.

“Goat farming is considered a profession only for the uneducated,” he explains. “It’s not like that anymore. Simba has given the profession a whole new meaning and respect, or at least for me.”

The Anglo-Nubian goat or simply the Nubian goat is a breed of domestic goat originating from Egypt.

They were developed in the UK by crossbreeding mainly Swiss female goats with Nubian male goats in Egypt and Ethiopia. In addition, the Nubian breed was bred from a native British female goat with a male goat imported from India and from Egypt, so it is often called Anglo– Nubian. This breed is large in stature and adapted to a wide range of climates but is preferable in warm climates.

This breed has a long and curved nose, long and drooping ears, large and bold eyes, which may or may not have horns. Coat colors are multicolored and often spotted, and the coat is short and coarse. Average milk yield is 716 kg with 32 kg of butter/10 month cycle. Some record goats reach 1,925 kg milk/cycle. Adult male weight is 80 kg, shoulder height 90 cm; Female goat is 60 kg, shoulder height 76 cm.

They are omnivorous, easy to raise, highly disease resistant and reproduce quickly. Besides being easy to eat and convenient in cleaning the barn, they are also easy to breed animals.