Boreray
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| Details: | |
| United Kingdom, GB | |
| Location | Boreray, Scottish Island, St Kilda Archipelago |
| Species | Sheep |
| Management | feral |
| Population size | Critically endangerd |
| Morphology | Adult ewes weigh about 28kg and stand 55cm at the withers. Both sexes are horned, and the horns of the rams are impressively spiralled. The face and leg colour is mainly black and white or grey and white, sometimes with tan markings. The fleece is mainly grey or cream in colour, often forming a dark collar around the neck and a dark rump patch, and is shed naturally in July. The wool can be used for tweed or carpet yarns and the horns for walking sticks or shepherd's crooks. The sheep are a unique breed, being descendants of the now extinct Scottish Tan Face with some infusion of Hebridean Blackface. They are a small short-tailed breed which naturally sheds its fleece under normal breeding conditions. Most animals are a creamy white colour with various black, tan or speckled markings on the face and legs and sometimes also on the body and shoulders. A few dark animals occur. |
| History | Boreray Sheep have a close geographical and social link with Soay Sheep but the two breeds are genetically different. Boreray Sheep are the descendants of the domestic sheep which were kept by the St. Kildans. When the inhabitants evacuated Hirta, (the main island of St. Kilda), in 1930, all their domestic stock was evacuated with them. Any stock left on the island was killed. But a replacement flock of domestic sheep had been kept on the island of Boreray. These sheep were left there after the evacuation and have lived feral on the island since 1930. In recent years a small group was taken off the island and the descendants of that small group are now registered with the Rare Breeds Survival Trust. |
| Source of information | www.soaysheepsociety.org.uk |
| Hyperlink | www.soaysheepsociety.org.uk |
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Boreary rams: |
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| www.soaysheepsociety.org.uk |
| Boreary ewes: |
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| www.soaysheepsociety.org.uk |
