11 Apr 2005
Protecting sacred sheep

I find it a little hard to believe that there are only 1500 of these sheep still around as the the wool is prized by handspinners. I personally know of at least three flocks of over 100 animals, and I'm nowhere near Navajo country.

Animal geneticist Harvey D. Blackburn collects and stores thousands of samples of animal germplasm -- mainly semen and embryos -- to make sure there's enough genetic material to reintroduce a species if necessary. Much of his collection deals with important livestock such as Holstein cattle and Yorkshire pigs. But one of the collections Blackburn is working on is likely not familiar to many Americans. He is trying to collect 6,000 units of semen from Navajo-Churro sheep, a breed culturally important to the Navajo tribe of the Southwest.

(link) [Science Blog]

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