Sheep

HISTORY

Archaeological evidence suggests that sheep were first domesticated about 11,000 years ago in the Middle East.

The first domesticated sheep were mouflon, a wild sheep with a short tail, thick curling horns, short dark fleece and white legs.

There are two species of mouflons: Asiatic mouflon or red sheep (Ovis orientalis), one of the two ancestors for all modern domestic sheep breeds from the mountains of south-west Asia; and the mouflon or European mouflon (Ovis musimon) from Corsica and Sardinia (introduced elsewhere).

Mouflon Pixiebay

The first settlers from continental Europe arrived in Neolithic Britain around 3500BC, introducing natives to a new domesticated animal- the sheep.

Like the wild sheep, the domestic sheep of Egypt in 3000 BC had coats of coarse hair. The dense wool was gradually developed by selective breeding.

The Venetian traveller Marco Polo arrived back in Venice in 1295 after spending many years travelling in Eastern Asia. His account of wild sheep in central Asia with mammoth horns were originally not believed by many. However when it was proved that these did exist they were named "Ouis Poli " in his honor.

Until 1832 you could be hanged for stealing a sheep in Britain.

The inventor of the telephone Alexander Graham Bell was interested in eugenics. As part of his investigations into race improving theories he developed a more prolific breed of sheep.

Probably the most famous sheep of all time was Dolly the Sheep, the first mammal to be cloned from an adult cell, who was born on July 5, 1996. She did not live as long as a regular sheep; premature aging and disease marred Dolly's short life and raised questions about the practicality of cloning.

A close-up of Dolly in her stuffed form. By Toni Barros from São Paulo, Brasil

Shrek was a castrated male sheep belonging to Bendigo Station,  near Tarras, New Zealand  He gained international fame in 2004, after avoiding being caught and shorn by hiding in caves for six years. When finally found on April 15, 2004, Shrek was shorn by a professional in 20 minutes. His fleece contained enough wool to make 20 large men's suits.

The Tragic Sheep Jump in Turkey in 2005 was triggered when a sheep fell off a cliff and 1,500 other sheep followed. 450 sheep died from the fall, but the rest survived by landing on the soft pile of sheep below.  The incident happened in the village of Altinkaya, in the province of Van. The sheep were grazing on a cliff when one of them fell. The other sheep, apparently thinking that the sheep that fell had found food, followed suit.

The world’s most expensive sheep sold for £231,000 in 2009. Named Deveronvale Perfection, he was bred in Banffshire and bought at a sale in Lanark. The eight-month-old’s high price was put down to his strong physical attributes, including the substantial width of his loin — the muscle that runs up the back of the sheep and makes lamb chops.

Khar Bii, a reality television show consisting of a search for Senegal's most beautiful ram, was the country's most popular television show in 2012.

ANATOMY 

Sheep have good hearing, and are sensitive to noise when being handled.

They also have an excellent sense of smell, and, like all species of their genus, have scent glands just in front of the eyes, and interdigitally on the feet.

Sheep have rectangular pupils that give them amazing peripheral vision—it’s estimated their field of vision is between 270 and 320 degrees; humans average about 155 degrees.

Though sheep can see behind themselves without moving their heads, they have poor depth perception; shadows and dips in the ground may cause sheep to balk.

The upper lip of a sheep has a pronounced groove dividing the left and right side, called a philtrum. Their philtrum helps them get close to the ground when grazing, giving them an advantage over other ruminants who can’t go as low.

Fat-tailed sheep are so named because they can store large amounts of fat in the tail and the region of the rump. They are kept mainly because they make more milk than other types of sheep; but their wool is rough and long, and is mostly used for making carpets.

A shepherd with fat-tailed sheep on a mountainside in Afghanistan

BEHAVIOR

In 2005 in Turkey, a sheep committed suicide by jumping off a cliff and 1500 of the woolly creatures followed the first one. Only the first 450 were killed, as the remaining animals' falls were cushioned by the dead bodies below.

Sheep have excellent memories for the faces of both other sheep and humans. Cambridge scientists in 2001 showed that a sheep can recall the faces of 50 other sheep for more than two years.

Research suggests that viewing pictures of other sheep may potentially reduce stress in sheep.

Pixiebay

Sheared sheep don’t recognize each other without their wool.

Sheep are very selective grazers, preferring leaves and blades over stems.

Sheep prefer to drink running water.

POPULATION 

There are over a billion head of sheep in the world of which China has almost 18 per cent.

Fat-tailed sheep are found mainly in the very dry parts of Africa, the Middle East, and Asia, and they represent about 25 percent of the sheep in the world.

Australia, Mongolia and New Zealand all have more than three times as many sheep as people.

FUN SHEEP FACTS

The oldest age recorded for a sheep was 28 years and 51 weeks. The crossbred sheep was kept at Taliesin, near Aberystwyth in Wales. The woolly creature gave birth to a healthy lamb in 1988 at the age of 28, after lambing successfully more than 40 times. She died in January 1989.

New Zealand still shears around half a million sheep by blade. The extra wool left using this method keeps the animal warmer during the cold winters.

The fastest recorded time to shear a sheep is 39.31 seconds by Hilton Barrett of Australia.

The sheep is the animal most often mentioned in the King James Bible with 200 references. There are another 191 mentions of lambs, 10 of ewes and 172 of rams.

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In Mongolia, a traditional hangover cure was to eat a pickled sheep's eye in a glass of tomato juice.

Sources Daily Express, Daily Mail, Europress Family Encyclopedia 1999, Modern Farmer