Skip to main content

Leicester Longwool Sheep

Leicester Longwool at Colonial Williamsburg
While on vacation I made my way over to Colonial Williamsburg, where, since the 1980s, they have been maintaining a rare breeds program to support and conserve different types of livestock. One of the breeds in the program is today's animal, the Leicester Longwool sheep.

This particular breed was developed in England in the 1700s by Robert Bakewell. Bakewell was the first to use modern selection techniques to create a new breed that would mature quickly and provide higher quality wool.

Leicester Longwools resting
The breed spread throughout England's colonies, and herds were even owned by George Washington and Thomas Jefferson. The Leicesters were crossbred to other sheep, and were instrumental in the creation of other new breeds. Unfortunately they fell out of favor over the course of the 20th century, due to the introduction of newer breeds, and became incredibly rare in both their native England and in North America.

Leicester Longwools did continue on in Australia, and it is from herds there that Colonial Williamsburg obtained their original sheep. They are now being bred in Virginia, and other herds have been established again in the United States.

Leicester Longwools get their name from the heavy, curly fleece that they produce. The wool is high yield, strong, and creates heavy woolens.

Status :  Listed as Critical by the American Livestock Breeds Conservancy
Location : Originated in England
Size : Male weight up to 250lbs (113kg), females 180lbs(82kg)
Classification : Phylum : Chordata -- Class : Mammalia -- Order : Artiodactyla
Family : Bovidae -- Genus : Ovis -- Species : O. aries

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Bornean Orangutan

The Bornean Orangutan is one of two extant Orangutan species in the world. It is the third largest primate (after Gorillas) and is the largest primarily tree-dwelling animal in the world. Males are substantially larger than females, and average at around 165lbs. Bornean Orangutans are largely solitary. A handful might live within a small range but they will seldom interact with one another. Males and females only meet up to breed, which happens only once every several years. A young Orangutan will stay with it's mother for about five years, and the females tend to go about eight years between births. That is the longest interim period of any animal! Sadly, the Bornean Orangutans are in a lot of trouble. They need large forests in order to thrive, and deforestation and habitat degradation has left many homeless. They are also hunted for meat and for traditional medicines. Conservation areas are being established to help these guys in the wild, and it is believed that there are a

Four!

For anyone who was counting, yesterday was our birthday-- four years! Four years filled with animals from A to Z, more than 1,100 of them! I can't thank my readers enough, it's been wonderful! And in celebration of that milestone... I'm taking a break. Hopefully not forever, but for a little bit at least. In the mean time I plan on getting a new layout out, along with some updates to some of the older articles. I'll post updates here and on the Facebook page, I'm also brainstorming some new animal-related projects, so keep an eye out! Thanks again for four awesome years!

Binturong

The Binturong ( Arctictis binturong ) also has an equally awesome alternate common name, the Bearcat! However, it really isn't much of a bear OR a cat. While it is true that it is part of the Feliforma suborder, it is not a member of family Felidae. Binturongs are a part of their own family, Viverridae, which is shared with Civets, Linsangs, and Genets. There are six subspecies of Binturong, all of which have slight differences based upon location and habitat. Binturongs range in body size from 60-100cm in length, (not including their tail which has roughly the same length) and weigh between 20 and 30lbs. Binturongs are nocturnal animals native to the rain forests of South East Asia. The species range spans through several countries including China, Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines. They are tree dwelling mammals, and have fully prehensile tails that basically double their body length and can be used to cling to the trees or to grasp food. Binturongs are phe