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Famous sheep
Dolly
Dolly became the most famous sheep in history when her birth was
announced by the Roslin Institute
in Scotland in 1997. Dolly was the world's first mammal to be
cloned. She was born July 5, 1996, from three different mothers.
Her genetic mother provided the DNA. A second ewe provided the
egg into which the DNA was injected and a third ewe carried the
cloned embryo. It took 276 attempts before the experiment was
successful. The birth of Dolly was hailed as a huge scientific
breakthrough. Dolly became a superstar and seemed to enjoy the
human attention.
Learn
how Dolly was cloned=>
Dolly gave birth to six lambs. She was euthanized when she was
six and a half years old after she developed a lung infection.
Dolly's health problems may have been the result of the fact that
she was cloned from a six year old ewe. Dolly also suffered from
a form of arthritis. After her death, Dolly was stuffed and put
on display in the Royal Museum of Scotland.
The Dollies
After Dolly was created from a cell from a mammary gland, the rest of the sample was frozen. Several years later, four clones were created from the same mammary tissue. The quads were nicknamed the "Dollies" and are exact genetic copies of Dolly. The existence of the Dollies was not made public until late 2010.
The Toast of Botswana
An unusual case of a sheep-goat hybrid was reported by veterinarians
in Botswana in 2000. The animal was naturally born from the mating
of a female goat with a male sheep that were kept together. Such
pregnancies were not thought possible.
The hybrid had 57 chromosomes, intermediate between sheep (54)
and goats (60) proving it was not a case of mistaken identity.
Its features were halfway between sheep and goats. The hybrid
had a very active libido, mounting both ewes and does when they
were not in heat. This earned him the name "Bemya" or
the "rapist." He was castrated when he was 10 months
old because he was becoming such a nuisance.
World's Wooliest Sheep
A renegade New Zealand sheep managed to evade shearers for six
years. Dubbed "Shrek," the Merino sheep was shorn live
on television by top shearers David Fagan and Peter Casserly.
The 10-year old sheep managed to roam freely on New Zealand's
South Island for more than six years before being rounded up.
Shrek's 60-pound fleece, enough to make 20 large men's suits,
was auctioned off over the internet for the benefit of children's
medical charities. Shrek was euthanized June 6, 2011, at the age of 17.
Shrek 2 bested Shrek 1 by avoiding shearing for 7 years. His fleece
was removed in April 2005. It weighed 68.2 pounds and measured
three meters in length. Shrek 2 was approximately 11 years old. In 2014, Shaun the Sheep fell short of the record. After six years on the run, Shaun yielded at 59.4 lb. fleece. The world record was broken yet again in 2015 by Chris, a feral sheep that yielded an 88 lb. fleece.
World's oldest sheep
Lucky was the world's oldest sheep. She died in November 2009 at the age of 23, twice the life expectancy of a sheep. Lucky succumbed to the effects of a heat wave in Australia and died peacefully after a short illness.
The previous record for longevity was held by George, a Merino wether, also from Australia. George died in his sleep in 2006 at the age of 21.
Lucky and George were both kept as pets. They were recognized by the Guinness World Records for being the oldest living sheep.
West Bank Miracle Lamb
In March 2004, a lamb was born on the West Bank. What looked like
"Allah" (the arabic word for God) was spelled out in
Arabic on its back. According to witnesses, the name of the Prophet
Mohammed was spelled out on the other side, though it was harder
to see. Many Palestinians traveled through several Israeli checkpoints
to see the "miracle" lamb.
Moviestars
Border Leicester sheep were featured in the 1995 hit movie Babe,
which tells the story of a sheep-herding pig. The movie required
970 animals, including 550 sheep. All scenes of sheep herding
were real herds and the trained dogs who herded them. When the
sheep appear to be attentively listening and keeping very still,
both real and animatronic sheep were used.
The ratio was one animatronic sheep for every three real sheep.
The real sheep were trained to calmy remain on their marks. When
the sheep walk in unison, real sheep were used and harnessed with
a very thin material that was not visible on camera. These sheep
had been trained in pre-production to respond so that when one
was called, they all followed.
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