(AP Photo/Loveland Daily Reporter-Herald, Tom Hacker)

That freak of nature in the photo? The Associated Press says it’s a “panda cow,” a miniature cow variety which was created in a lab to be pets for the income set that can’t afford to actually buy a real panda from the Chinese. (One of these genetic manipulations will set you back $30,000 — as a frame of reference, the National Zoo is spending one million dollars per year to lease Mei Xiang and Tien Tien.) The calf, named “Ben” and hailing from Campion, Colorado, is “one of only about 24 in the world,” according to the AP.

So, any bets on how many more years it’ll be until the National Zoo picks up a couple of these and tries to pass them off as new cubs?