Soay Sheep

The Soay sheep is a breed of domestic sheep descended from a population of feral sheep on the 100-hectare island of Soay in the St Kilda Archipelago, about 65 kilometres from the Western Isles of Scotland. It is one of the Northern European short-tailed sheep breeds.
The Soays are particularly hardy.They are very agile and sure-footed and so graze places that domesticated sheep cannot.
The breed is listed in “Category 4: At Risk” by the Rare Breeds Survival Trust, because there are only between 900 and 1500 registered breeding Soay ewes.
They have short tails and naturally shed their wool, which can be hand plucked (called rooing) in the spring and early summer. About one kilogram of wool can be obtained from each animal per year. Ewes are polled, scurred or horned and rams are either horned or scurred. They are most commonly brown or tan with a white belly, white rump patch and/or white patch under the chin. Occasionally white markings on the face and/or body and legs occur. Rarely self-colored (solid color with no markings) black or tan individuals are seen.
The lambs are late maturing and produce smaller carcasses relative to commercial breeds. The meat from the Soay is lean, tender and low in cholesterol. It has a stronger flavour with a gamey taste when compared to more common sheep breeds

Scientific name: Ovis aries

Country of origin: Scotland

Wool color: Black, brown, blonde or dark brown with buffish-white underbelly and rump

Horn status: Horned