Sheep

Sheep (Ovis aries) are believed to have been among the first animals to be domesticated, preceded by the dog and goat.  It is also believed that most domestication took place in western Asia where the majority of the present day small ruminant breeds likely originated. Existence of some ancestral stock of wild sheep extends from western Europe to China, The mouflon of Europe, the Middle East (Asia Minor), and western Iran, the urial of western Asia and Afghanistan, the argali of central Asia, and the bighorn of northern Asia and North America. It is assumed that the majority of today’s domestic sheep breeds descended from the urial which is currently found in central Asian countries and in northern Iran extending up to Tibet and northern China. The hair sheep of Africa and Asia are thought to have descended mainly from the urial. The argali is believed to have played a significant role in the development of domesticated sheep of India and the Far East. In Ethiopia, there exists a great variation in climate and topography, harboring diversified livestock species which also have variability among themselves. The sheep found in Ethiopia could fall into different breeds and types whose habitat ranges from tropical to temperate environments. The present fat-tailed sheep of Ethiopia that are believed to have replaced the original African long-thin-tailed sheep came from Asia through the Strait of Bab El Mandeb. Although sheep were domesticated as dual purpose animals to produce wool and meat, early people would have valued sheep milk as well.