Cra Pn Ay 
THE SHEEP AND GOATS 
THE SHEEP 
HE sheep are represented at the present time by several wild species, one of which is 
found in Northern India east of the Indus, in the Punjab, and in Sind; one in 
North America; and another in North Africa. The rest inhabit the high ‘ground of 
Europe and Asia as far south as the Himalaya. These mountains, with the adjacent plateaux 
of the Pamirs and the great ranges of Central Asia, form the main home of the group. 
Wild sheep are of various types, some so much like the goats that it is difficult to draw a 
hard-and-fast line between them; while others, especially the Curly-horned Argalis, Bighorns, 
Oorial, and Kamchatka Wild Sheep, are unmistakably ovine in type. The wild original of 
the domesticated breeds of sheep is unknown; but the extreme differences between various 
breeds of tame sheep —as, for instance, between the smooth-coated, drooping-eared breed of 
Nubia and the curly-horned, woolly sheep of Dorsetshire — must not be allowed to divert the 
attention from the considerable likeness of habit which still remains between other breeds 
and the wild species. Domesticated sheep which live on hills and mountains are still inclined 
to seek the highest ground at night. The rams fight as the wild rams do, and many of them 
display activity and powers of climbing and of finding a living on barren ground scarcely less 
remarkable than in the wild races. 
The apparent absence of wool in 
the latter does not indicate so 
great a difference as might be 
thought. The domesticated sheep 
have been bred by artificial selection 
for unnumbered ages in order to 
produce wool. It is said that in 
some of the wild breeds there is 
an under-fur which will “ felt” like 
wool. Most of the species are short- 
tailed animals, but this is not the 
case with the Barbary wild sheep. 
Wild sheep are mainly 
mountain-living animals or 
frequenters of high ground. They 
generally, although not always, 
frequent less rugged country than 
that affected by the wild goats, and 
some are found at quite low levels. 
The altitude at which other wild 
sheep are found is, however, very 
great; on the Pamirs it reaches Photo by G, W’, Wilson & Co., Lid. 
20,000 feet. Here the country is YOUNG BARBARY SHEEP 
quite open. Note the length of the tail as compared with other wild sheep 
196 
