The Greenlandic sheep ( kl, kalaallit savaataat or ''

sava The Sava (; , ; sr-cyr, Сава, hu, Száva) is a river in Central and Southeast Europe, a right-bank and the longest tributary of the Danube. It flows through Slovenia, Croatia and along its border with Bosnia and Herzegovina, and finally th ...

'', da, grønlandsk får) is a breed of

domestic sheep Sheep or domestic sheep (''Ovis aries'') are domesticated, ruminant mammals typically kept as livestock. Although the term ''sheep'' can apply to other species in the genus ''Ovis'', in everyday usage it almost always refers to domesticated sh ...

. The Greenlandic breed is one of the

Northern European short-tailed sheep The Northern European short-tailed sheep are a group of traditional sheep breeds or types found in Northern Europe, mainly in the British Isles, Scandinavia, Greenland and the area around the Baltic. They are thought to be derived from the fir ...

, which exhibit a fluke-shaped, naturally short tail. The Greenlandic is a mid-sized breed, generally short-legged and stocky, with face and legs free of

wool Wool is the textile fibre obtained from sheep and other mammals, especially goats, rabbits, and camelids. The term may also refer to inorganic materials, such as mineral wool and glass wool, that have properties similar to animal wool. As ...

. The fleece of the Greenlandic sheep is dual-coated and comes in white as well as a variety of other colors, including a range of browns, grays, and blacks. They exist in both

horned A horn is a permanent pointed projection on the head of various animals that consists of a covering of keratin and other proteins surrounding a core of live bone. Horns are distinct from antlers, which are not permanent. In mammals, true horns ...

and polled strains. Generally left unshorn for the winter, the breed is very cold-hardy. Multiple births are very common in Greenlandic ewes, with a lambing percentage of 150% - 190%. They are seasonal breeders and come into

estrus The estrous cycle (, originally ) is the set of recurring physiological changes that are induced by reproductive hormones in most mammalian therian females. Estrous cycles start after sexual maturity in females and are interrupted by anestrous p ...

around October. The breeding season can last up to four months. Rams become mature early and can start breeding as early as five months. The present Greenlandic sheep is hardy and thrifty. It descends from Faroe and

Icelandic sheep The Icelandic is the Icelandic breed of domestic sheep. It belongs to the Northern European Short-tailed group of sheep, and is larger than most breeds in that group. It is thought that it was introduced to Iceland by Vikings in the late nint ...

, the

Spælsau __NOTOC__ The Spælsau (Old Norwegian Short Tail Landrace, Gamalnorsk spæl Norwegian) is a breed of sheep from Norway. Many consider Spælsau to be the original breed of sheep in Norway, and it is one of the Northern European short-tailed sheep b ...

and the

Scottish Blackface The Blackface or Scottish Blackface is a British breed of sheep. It is the most common sheep breed of the United Kingdom. Despite the name, it did not originate in Scotland, but south of the border. History The origins of the breed are ...

, brought to

Greenland Greenland ( kl, Kalaallit Nunaat, ; da, Grønland, ) is an island country in North America that is part of the Kingdom of Denmark. It is located between the Arctic and Atlantic oceans, east of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Greenland is t ...

by Greenladic

farmers A farmer is a person engaged in agriculture, raising living organisms for food or raw materials. The term usually applies to people who do some combination of raising field crops, orchards, vineyards, poultry, or other livestock. A farmer mi ...

, Greenlandic sheep have been bred since 1906 in a very harsh environment. Consequently, they are quite efficient

herbivores A herbivore is an animal anatomically and physiologically adapted to eating plant material, for example foliage or marine algae, for the main component of its diet. As a result of their plant diet, herbivorous animals typically have mouthpart ...

. The breed descends from the same stock as the Norwegian Spelsau.

Color genetics

The colors of Greenlandic sheep are inherited in a similar way to those of other sheep, but they display more variety in color and pattern than most other breeds, and there are some variations not seen in other sheep. Each sheep carries three

gene In biology, the word gene (from , ; "...Wilhelm Johannsen coined the word gene to describe the Mendelian units of heredity..." meaning ''generation'' or ''birth'' or ''gender'') can have several different meanings. The Mendelian gene is a ba ...

s that affect the color of the sheep, and for each gene, there are dominant and recessive

allele An allele (, ; ; modern formation from Greek ἄλλος ''állos'', "other") is a variation of the same sequence of nucleotides at the same place on a long DNA molecule, as described in leading textbooks on genetics and evolution. ::"The chro ...

s. Each lamb will receive one allele from each parent of each of the genes shown below.

Color

The base color of all Icelandic sheep is either black, white or ''moorit'' (brown), each coming in a variety of shades and tones. Black is the dominant allele. The appearance of these colors can be altered by patterns and spotting.

Pattern

There are six patterns alleles in the breed. The most dominant pattern of these is white, which will conceal any other pattern, color or spotting that may be present, producing a solid white sheep. There are several other patterns which will change the appearance of the color the animal shows. One of these is gray, which, together with the base color gene, will give rise to either gray black or gray moorit. Another is "badgerface", which shows as lighter coloration on the back, sides, neck, ears and face, with a darker color on the underbelly, under the tail, parts of the neck and around the eyes. Once again, this pattern will show as either grey badgerface or moorit badgerface. A further pattern is "mouflon". These sheep will be light-colored where badgerface sheep are dark, and dark where badgerface sheep are light. The gray, badgerface, and mouflon patterns are equally dominant. A sheep can display any of these patterns individually, or they can display two of them at the same time. Sheep carrying both badgerface and mouflon show as plain-coloured sheep with slightly darker markings where the two patterns meet. The least dominant pattern is solid, which is essentially no pattern at all. Solid-patterned animals will simply show their base color all over. To be solid, a sheep must inherit the solid pattern from both parents – the parents could be solid themselves, or they could carry a solid allele hidden by another other pattern allele. White sheep can also carry any one of the five other patterns, but it will be hidden by the dominant white color (note that white in sheep is genetically a pattern, not a color).

Spotting

This gene gives rise to white markings on the feet, face, head or over large parts of the body. The unspotted areas may be any of the patterns and colors described above. There are two alleles for spotting: spotted, and unspotted; unspotted is dominant. Only when bearing two spotting alleles will the sheep display spotting.

Meat production

In Greenland, this breed is almost exclusively bred for

meat Meat is animal flesh that is eaten as food. Humans have hunted, farmed, and scavenged animals for meat since prehistoric times. The establishment of settlements in the Neolithic Revolution allowed the domestication of animals such as chic ...

. Lambs are not fed grain or given

hormone A hormone (from the Greek participle , "setting in motion") is a class of signaling molecules in multicellular organisms that are sent to distant organs by complex biological processes to regulate physiology and behavior. Hormones are required ...

s. The meat has a fine grain and distinct, delicate flavor. The meat of the Greenlandic sheep is quite special and considered by many experts to be among the best in the world and considered a gourmet style of meat. The taste and quality are closely linked to the animals’ life conditions.

Fiber

Greenlandic fleece is dual-coated. When the long and finer coat is separated, the outer and inner coats are used for different woolen products, though the transport cost has up to now stopped all industrial use of the Greenlandic wool.

Milk

Sheep are not milked in Greenland, and instead the lamb is allowed to continue suckling.

References

External links

The sheep population in Greenland

University of Copenhagen - Center for Permafrost - Sheep in Greenland

Origin and diversity of North European sheep breeds
{{DEFAULTSORT:Greenlandic Sheep Sheep breeds Sheep breeds originating in Greenland Mammals of Greenland