Sheep Facts
Sheep are the first animal to be domesticated in Asia. These mammals are believed to have originated in Asia and Europe. Now they are very common in Australia and America. There are more than one billion sheep in the entire world. The country with the largest number of sheep in the world is China. In 1996, the first mammal to be cloned from a somatic cell was a sheep named Dolly.
Facts you didn’t know: –
- Sheep belong to the Bovidae family. Their scientific name is Ovis Aries.
- Adult male sheep are known as rams and adult female sheep are known as ewes. Young sheep are known as lambs.
- These fluffy mammals are herbivores. They feed on various types of vegetation.
- They are extremely intelligent animals with incredible memories.
- Sheep are social animals and they love to stay in herds. A group of sheep is called a flock or mob.
- They can easily survive in tough climates even if it is very cold, very hot or very dry.
- The average lifespan of a sheep is 7-8 years.
- There are more than 900 known breeds of sheep around the world.
- Sheep have a gestation period of around 147 days.
- The weight of an average sheep generally ranges from 40 to 160 kg.
- They do not have teeth in their upper front jaw.
- An average sheep consumes around 3-4 pounds of food daily.
- Domesticated sheep are raised for various agricultural products like fleece and meat.
- They have a field vision of 270°. They do not need to turn their head to see behind them.
- They have a four chambered digestive system.
- Sheep are one of the 12 animals in the Chinese Zodiac. They represent compassion, gentleness and sincerity.
- The milk of a sheep is used to make gourmet cheese.
