Boreray sheep

The Boreray, also known as the Boreray Blackface or Hebridean Blackface, is a breed of sheep originating on the St Kilda archipelago off the west coast of Scotland and surviving as a feral animal on one of the islands, Boreray. The breed was once reared for meat and wool, but is now used mainly for conservation grazing. The Boreray is one of the Northern European short-tailed sheep group of breeds.

Boreray
A Boreray ram.
Conservation status
  • FAO (2007): Critical
  • RBST (2017): Category 3
Country of originScotland
DistributionScotland
UseConservation grazing, meat, wool
Traits
Weight
  • Male:
    45kg
  • Female:
    30kg
Height
  • Male:
    55cm
  • Female:
    55cm
Horn statusHorned
  • Sheep
  • Ovis aries

It is one of the rarest breeds of sheep in the United Kingdom. The breed is classed as "Category 3: Vulnerable" by the Rare Breeds Survival Trust, because 500–900 breeding ewes are known to exist. It had previously been the only breed classed in "Category 2: Critical" but by 2017 the population had grown.

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.