Euphorbia caput-medusae when it has been through the wars

Euphorbia caput-medusae plants are hardy succulents withstanding much adversity in their habitat. The plant in picture shows evidence of some serious impact upon its wellbeing at a time or times in the past.

Could this have been from trampling by a passing hoof, eaten by some (underground?) animal or from an untoward substance that came into contact with the plant body and killed some tissue? Dead parts contrast against new green growth in the centre and to one side. Consequently, the plant no longer retains its normal circular spread of stem growth.

But fightback there has been, albeit ending in this lopsided result. The better stems here may have grown longer than what stems would have achieved under normal conditions.

However it may be, the healthy stems appear quite likely to produce fruit in their proper season (Frandsen, 2017; Manning and Goldblatt, 1996).