Back خروف سواى ARZ Ovella de Soay Catalan Defaid Soaigh Welsh Soayschaf German Oveja de Soay Spanish Soayko ardi Basque Soaynlammas Finnish Soay-seyður Faeroese Mouton de Soay French Soay-sauðfé Icelandic
 Soay ewe | |
| Conservation status | RBST (2017): Category 4[1] |
|---|---|
| Country of origin | Scotland |
| Traits | |
| Wool colour | Black, brown, blonde or dark brown with buffish-white underbelly and rump |
| Horn status | Horned |
| |
The Soay sheep is a breed of domestic sheep (Ovis aries) descended from a population of feral sheep on the 100-hectare (250-acre) island of Soay in the St Kilda Archipelago, about 65 kilometres (40 mi) from the Western Isles of Scotland. It is one of the Northern European short-tailed sheep breeds.
It remains physically similar to the wild ancestors of domestic sheep, the Mediterranean mouflon and the horned urial sheep of Central Asia.[2] It is much smaller than modern domesticated sheep but hardier, and is extraordinarily agile, tending to take refuge amongst the cliffs when frightened. Soays may be solid black or brown, or more often blonde or dark brown with buffish-white underbelly and rump (known as lachdann in Scottish Gaelic, which is cognate to the Manx loaghtan); a few have white markings on the face.[3]
In the early twentieth century, some Soay sheep were relocated to establish exotic flocks, such as the flock of "Park Soay" at Woburn Abbey, established by the Duke of Bedford in 1910, and selected for "primitive" characteristics.[4] A number of Soay sheep were translocated from Soay to another of the St Kilda group, the island of Hirta by the Marquess of Bute in the 1930s, after the human population and their sheep were evacuated. The name of the island is from Old Norse Seyðoy, meaning "Island of Sheep". The breed was introduced to and live wild on Holy Isle off Arran.[5]
Soay sheep were introduced from St Kilda to Lundy, an island in the Bristol Channel, by Martin Coles Harman soon after he purchased the island in 1925. There is also a small population living wild in and around the Cheddar Gorge in Somerset. The breed was used in experimental archaeology at Butser Ancient Farm because it closely resembles British prehistoric breeds.[6]
The Soays are particularly hardy and have been allowed to become largely feral. 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.[7] The Soay is distinct from two other short-tailed breeds also associated with St Kilda: the Boreray (from Boreray, another of the islands, and formerly also living on Hirta), and the "St Kilda", a former name for the Hebridean sheep (which is probably not from St Kilda at all).[8]
- ^ Watchlist 2017–18 Archived 2017-08-06 at the Wayback Machine. Stoneleigh Park, Warwickshire: Rare Breeds Survival Trust. Accessed May 2017.
- ^ Ryder, M L, (1981), "A survey of European primitive breeds of sheep", Ann. Génét. Sél. Anim., 13 (4), pp 381–418. Archived 2011-05-16 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ St Kilda Summer, by Kenneth Williamson and J Morton Boyd, Hutchinson and co. Ltd 1960
- ^ Kathie Miller. "History of Soay sheep". Southern Oregon Soay Farms. Archived from the original on 11 November 2009. Retrieved 4 May 2009.
- ^ "Wildlife on the Island". Holy Isle Project. Archived from the original on 4 July 2011. Retrieved 28 February 2011.
- ^ Reynolds, Peter J (1979). Iron-Age farm The Butser Experiment. British Museum. pp. 53–54. ISBN 0-7141-8014-9.
- ^ "Sheep". Rare Breeds Watchlist. Rare Breeds Survival Trust. Archived from the original on 15 September 2011. Retrieved 11 December 2011.
- ^ "Soay/United Kingdom". Breed Data Sheet. Domestic Animal Diversity Information System. Archived from the original on 4 September 2012. Retrieved 8 September 2009.