Whenever it comes to sheep, most people probably have roughly the same mental picture in mind.
If your mom or dad ever told you to count sheep to help you fall asleep as a kid, you know the picture we’re talking about: plump, fluffy little white balls, trotting around in a green field. Still, sheep have plenty of genetic diversity just like any other group of animals! To prove that point, one unusually adorable breed of sheep has been taking the internet by storm recently.
Still, we’ll let you be the judge of how cute they are compared to other sheep.
The breed we’re talking about is the Valais Blacknose, originally native to the Valais region of Switzerland.
Unlike normal sheep, these cute little guys have shaggier coats, black hooves with the occasional black spot elsewhere and adorable little faces. Though it’s hard to pin down an exact date, these animals have been around for as far back as the 1600s! Just like other sheep, the Valais Blacknose is a domesticated breed bred for both meat and wool.
In recent years, the breed has also been imported to Scotland the United Kingdom.
One of the reasons this breed is gaining attention is due to a couple of farmers in New Zealand.
The farmers in question are Sally and Lindsay Strathdee. The pair are also in charge of the Valais Blacknose New Zealand Facebook page, where they post all kinds of cute pictures and helpful information for other potential breeders. As it turns out, the journey to raising sheep like these wasn’t initially so easy for the couple—after all, New Zealand has laws that forbid bringing these animals into the country.
With a little bit of crafty thinking, the couple and their business partner were able to find a loophole.
Rather than import a fully-grown animal, they instead decided to import embryos and sperm.
Once they got the genetic materials for the sheep, they decided to move forward. The Strathdee’s business partner, Christine Reed, explained the process to MailOnline.
“We implanted in June 2017 and later in October had the most gorgeous 16 lambs on the ground,” Reed said. “Nine girls and seven boys.” Bringing the animals into the country has also had a tourism-related effect, according to Reed. “We have visitors willing to jump off cruise ships and rent cars just so they can see the sheep,” she said.
After seeing these pictures, it’s not hard to see why.
Beyond their distinctive appearance, the breed also has its own unique characteristics and personality.
When we typically think of sheep, we probably think of animals that are relatively docile and easily manipulated or controlled. For the Valais Blacknoses, however, things are a little bit different. “One of the most wonderful surprises for us,” Reed said, “was that not only were these the cutest sheep in the world, but they had friendly inquisitive natures unlike any other sheep breed.”
In that respect, Reed said, these animals were more little dogs than sheep!
Seeing the success they’d had, the Strathdees and Reed decided to go into business exporting genetic material to breed Valais Blacknoses all over the world.
While they are still getting their business off the ground, the plan is to maintain a high standard of breeding and to ship genetic material all over the world. Whether to be bred as pets or as livestock, the company has received an overwhelming response. While not everyone will want one of these sheep to raise as their own, the company has posted plenty of pictures online that everyone can enjoy.
Needless to say, the photos have captured the entire world’s imagination.
No matter who you are, it’s hard not to appreciate the natural beauty of the Valais Blacknoses.
Though we may have some fixed ideas about what certain animals should look like or how they should behave, nature has much more variety than we give it credit for. If we’re willing to open our eyes and look around the world, we can constantly be surprised at all the diversity and beauty that planet Earth has to offer. If anyone is planning a trip to New Zealand (or Switzerland) at any time in the future, be sure to check these animals out when you get there!
For the rest of us, we’ll just keep looking at the pictures.
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