Domestication of the sheep: Difference between revisions

Wild ancestors

The exact line of descent between domestic sheep and their wild ancestors is unclear.

The residents of the ancient city of Jeitun, which dates to 6000 BC, kept sheep and goats as their primary livestock.^[15] There have also been numerous identifications of Nomadic pastoralism in archaeological sites, identified by a prevalence of sheep and goat bones, a lack of grain or grain-processing equipment, very limited architecture showing a set of characteristic traits, a location outside the region's zone of agriculture, and ethnographic analogy to modern nomadic pastoral peoples.^[16]

Modern

Middle East

There is a large but constantly declining minority of nomadic and seminomadic pastoralists in countries such as Saudi Arabia (probably less than 3%), Iran (4%), and Afghanistan (at most 10%).^[18]

India

In

Sheep are not an important part of China's agricultural economy, since the majority of China does not have the large open pastures required for sheep-rearing.[20] Sheep farming is more common in the northwestern provinces of the country, where such tracts of land exist.^[21] China does have a native sheep breed, the zhan. The population of the breed has been in decline since 1985, despite government promotion of the breed.^[22]

Japan

The Japanese government encouraged farmers to raise sheep throughout the 19th-century. Sheep-rearing programs began to import Yorkshire, Berkshire, Spanish merino, and numerous Chinese and Mongolian sheep breeds, encouraged by government promotion of sheep farming. However, a lack of knowledge on the farmer's part of how to successfully keep sheep, and the government's failure to provide information to those importing the sheep they promoted, led to the project's failure, and in 1888 it was discontinued.^[23]

Mongolia

Sheep herding has been one of the main economic activities and lifestyles of Mongolians for millennia. Mongolian sheep herding traditions and modern science are well developed. Mongolian selection and veterinary science classifies the sheep herd of the country by (i) wool fiber’s length, thinness and softness, (ii) capability of surviving at various altitudes, (iii) physical appearance, tail form, size, and other criteria. The most common sheep breeds are Mongol Khalha, Gov-altai, Baidrag, Bayad, Uzenchin, Sumber and number of other breeds, all being of the fat-tailed breed.

A census of the entire domestic animals stock of the country is carried out annually. At the end of 2014, the census counted more than 23 million of sheep that makes up 44.6 percent of the entire herding stock.^[24]

Annually before the Lunar New year the Government awards the prestigious “Best Herder” (in Mongolian “Улсын сайн малчин цол”) nomination to select herders.

In Africa

Sheep entered the African continent not long after their domestication in western Asia.

In Ethiopia, there are several varieties of sheep landrace. Attempts have been made to classify the sheep based on factors such as tail shape and wool type, and H. Epstein made an attempt at classifying them this way by dividing the breeds into 14 types based on those two factors. However, in 2002, further genetic analysis revealed that there are only four distinct varieties of Ethiopian sheep: short-fat-tailed, long-fat-tailed, fat-rumped, and thin-tailed.^[27]

In Europe

Sheep husbandry spread quickly in Europe. Excavations show that in about 6000 BC, during the Neolithic period of prehistory, the Castelnovien people, living around Châteauneuf-les-Martigues near present-day Marseille in the south of France, were among the first in Europe to keep domestic sheep.^[28] Practically from its inception, ancient Greek civilization relied on sheep as primary livestock, and were even said to name individual animals.^[6]: 13 Scandinavian sheep of a type seen today — with short tails and multi-colored fleece — were also present early on. Later, the Roman Empire kept sheep on a wide scale, and the Romans were an important agent in the spread of sheep raising through much of Europe. Pliny the Elder, in his Natural History (Naturalis Historia), speaks at length about sheep and wool.^[29] Declaring "Many thanks, too, do we owe to the sheep, both for appeasing the gods, and for giving us the use of its fleece.", he goes on to detail the breeds of ancient sheep and the many colors, lengths and qualities of wool.^[29] Romans also pioneered the practice of blanketing sheep, in which a fitted coat (today usually of nylon) is placed over the sheep to improve the cleanliness and luster of its wool.^[2]: 74

During the Roman occupation of the British Isles, a large wool processing factory was established in

Mesta flocks followed a seasonal pattern of transhumance across Spain. In the spring, they left the winter pastures (invernaderos) in Extremadura and Andalusia to graze on their summer pastures (agostaderos) in Castile, returning again in the autumn.^[30] Spanish rulers eager to increase wool profits gave extensive legal rights to the Mesta, often to the detriment of local peasantry.^[30] The huge merino flocks had a lawful right of way for their migratory routes (cañadas). Towns and villages were obliged by law to let the flocks graze on their common land, and the Mesta had its own sheriffs that could summon offending individuals to its own tribunals.^[30]

Exportation of merinos without royal permission was also a punishable offense, thus ensuring a near-absolute monopoly on the breed until the mid-18th century. After the breaking of the export ban, fine wool sheep began to be distributed worldwide. The export to

No ovine species native to the

The next transport of sheep to North America was not until 1607, with the voyage of the Susan Constant to Virginia.^[2]: 234 However, the sheep that arrived in that year were all slaughtered because of a famine, and a permanent flock was not to reach the colony until two years later in 1609.^[2]: 234 In two decades' time, the colonists had expanded their flock to a total of 400 head. By the 1640s there were about 100,000 head of sheep in the 13 colonies, and in 1662, a woolen mill was built in Watertown, Massachusetts.^{[2]: 9 [6]: 11} Especially during the periods of political unrest and civil war in Britain spanning the 1640s and 1650s which disrupted maritime trade, the colonists found it pressing to produce wool for clothing.^[38] Many islands off the coast were cleared of predators and set aside for sheep: Nantucket, Long Island, Martha's Vineyard and small islands in Boston Harbor were notable examples.^[38] There remain some rare breeds of American sheep—such as the Hog Island sheep—that were the result of island flocks. Placing semi-feral sheep and goats on islands was common practice in colonization during this period.^[38] Early on, the British government banned further export of sheep to the Americas, or wool from it, in an attempt to stifle any threat to the wool trade in the British Isles. One of many restrictive trade measures that precipitated the American Revolution, the sheep industry in the Northeast grew despite the bans.^[2]: 10

Gradually, beginning in the 19th century, sheep production in the U.S. moved westward. Today, the vast majority of flocks reside on Western range lands. During this westward migration of the industry, competition between sheep (sometime called "range maggots") and cattle operations grew more heated, eventually erupting into range wars.^[39] Other than simple competition for grazing and water rights, cattlemen believed that the secretions of the foot glands of sheep made cattle unwilling to graze on places where sheep had stepped.^[12]: 4 As sheep production centered on the U.S. western ranges, it became associated with other parts of Western culture, such as the rodeo. In modern America, a minor event in rodeos is mutton busting, in which children compete to see who can stay atop a sheep the longest before falling off. Another effect of the westward movement of sheep flocks in North America was the decline of wild species such as Bighorn sheep (O. canadesis). Most diseases of domestic sheep are transmittable to wild ovines, and such diseases, along with overgrazing and habitat loss, are named as primary factors in the plummeting numbers of wild sheep.^[40] Sheep production peaked in North America during the 1940s and 1950s at more than 55 million head.^[6]: 14 By 2013 the number of sheep in the United States was 10 percent what it had been in the early 1940s.^[41]

In the 1970s, Roy McBride, a farmer from

In South America, especially in Patagonia, there is an active modern sheep industry.^[43] Sheep keeping was largely introduced through immigration to the continent by Spanish and British peoples, for whom sheep were a major industry during the period.^[44] South America has a large number of sheep, but the highest-producing nation (Brazil) kept only just over 15 million head in 2004, far fewer than most centers of sheep husbandry.^[45] The primary challenges to the sheep industry in South America are the phenomenal drop in wool prices in the late 20th century and the loss of habitat through logging and overgrazing.^[46] The most influential region internationally is that of Patagonia, which has been the first to rebound from the fall in wool prices.^[43][44] With few predators and almost no grazing competition (the only large native grazing mammal is the guanaco), the region is prime land for sheep raising.^[44] The most exceptional area of production is surrounding the La Plata river in the Pampas region.^[2]: 19 Sheep production in Patagonia peaked in 1952 at more than 21 million head, but has steadily fallen to fewer than ten today.^[44] Most operations focus on wool production for export from Merino and Corriedale sheep; the economic sustainability of wool flocks has fallen with the drop in prices, while the cattle industry continues to grow.^[44]

In Australia and New Zealand

Australia and New Zealand are crucial players in the contemporary sheep industry, and sheep are an iconic part of both countries' culture and economy. New Zealand has the highest density of sheep per capita (sheep outnumber the human population 12 to 1), and Australia is the world's indisputably largest exporter of sheep and cattle.^[47] In 2007, New Zealand even declared 15 February their official National Lamb Day to celebrate the country's history of sheep production.^[48]

The

The growth of the sheep industry in Australia was explosive. In 1820, the continent held 100,000 sheep, a decade later it had one million.

Flocks in Australia have always been largely range bands on fenced land, and are aimed at production of medium to superfine wool for clothing and other products as well as meat. New Zealand flocks are kept in a fashion similar to English ones, in fenced holdings without shepherds. Although wool was once the primary income source for New Zealand sheep owners (especially during the New Zealand wool boom), today it has shifted to meat production for export.^{[2]: 17 [51]}

Animal welfare concerns

The Australian sheep industry is the only sector of the industry to receive international criticism for its practices.

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