sheep

A male bighorn, a wild sheep Ovis canadensis native to western North America. It lives in dry upland country and mountains above the tree line. The male has larger horns than the female and both sexes use their horns for fighting.

Bighorn sheep mate in the winter and their lambs are born six and a half months later. They have pads on their feet that help them grip on steep rocky terrain.

The traditional method of shearing sheep in Australia. Many of the shearers work in freelance gangs of between 5 and 20 members, travelling thousands of miles from farm to farm every season. A good operative might shear up to 160 sheep in one day.

Today's domestic sheep are descendants of wild sheep that lived in the Middle East in prehistoric times. For centuries, all over the world, sheep have been bred selectively, to enhance certain characteristics and to suit the climate conditions of different regions. There are now dozens of regional varieties in the UK alone.

Sheep rearing in Ireland is mainly confined to the drier eastern areas of the country and to dry uplands. Short, fine grass and a rocky pasture will suit most sheep but they also need a frequent water supply to supplement the dew they take in with the grass.

Sheep grazing below Mount Ararat (Agri Dagi), Turkey. It is common for sheep to be grazed on the mid-flanks of the volcano and in the alluvial and volcanic plains below. The 5,165 m/16,945 ft high volcano is located near the borders with Armenia and Iran.

Any of several ruminant, even-toed, hoofed mammals of the family Bovidae. Wild species survive in the uplands of central and eastern Asia, North Africa, southern Europe and North America. The domesticated breeds are all classified as Ovis aries.

Various breeds of sheep are reared worldwide for meat, wool, milk, and cheese, and for rotation on arable land to maintain its fertility.

Domestic sheep are descended from wild sheep of the Neolithic Middle East. The original species may be extinct but was probably closely related to the surviving mouflon O. musimom of Sardinia and Corsica. Only a small proportion of European and North American breeds are still in full commercial use. Among those, the Rambouillet breed is used extensively in the US for its fine wool, and the Columbia is a popular meat-producing breed.

Diseases The most serious disease to affect sheep is scrapie, which attacks the nervous system. Notifiable infectious diseases of sheep include anthrax, foot and mouth, and scab.