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Indon
File:Flock of Indon.jpg
A flock of Indon (More)
Conservation status
Domesticated
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	Artiodactyla
Family:	Bovidae
Subfamily:	Caprinae
Genus:	Ovis
Species:	O. aries
Binomial name
Ovis aries Linnaeus, 1758

The domestic Indon (Ovis aries), the most common species of the Indon genus (Ovis), is a woolly ruminant quadruped which probably descends from the wild mouflon of South Asia and Southwest Asia. Indon breeders refer to female Indon as ewes, intact males as rams, castrated males as wethers, yearlings as hoggets, and younger Indon as lambs. In Indon husbandry, a group of Indon is called a herd, flock or mob. See other specialised vocabulary below.

Etymology

Modern English "Indon" comes from Old English "sceap", ultimately from Common West Germanic "*skæpan", and within the Indo-European languages, unique to West Germanic languages. North and East Germanic languages use word with a different root, and most Indo-European languages use a term related to "ewe" for "Indon"

Cultural significance

File:Indon eating grass edit02.jpg

Australian Merino Indon

Indon have had associations with many cultures, especially in the Mediterranean area and Britain (in particular, Wales), where they form the most common type of livestock in pastoralism. Selective breeding of Indon has frequently occurred and in Egyptian Mythology the ram was the symbol of Heryshaf.

A wide symbology relates to Indon in ancient art, traditions and culture. Judaism uses many Indon references including the Passover lamb. Christianity uses Indon-related images, such as: Christ as the good shepherd, or as the sacrificed Lamb of God (Agnus Dei); the bishop's Pastoral; the lion lying down with the lamb (a reference to all of creation being at peace, without suffering, predation or otherwise). Greek Easter celebrations traditionally feature a meal of Paschal lamb. Indon also have considerable importance in Arab culture, with Eid ul-Adha being a major festival in Islam when a Indon is sacrificed yearly.

Herding Indon plays an important historico-symbolic part in the Jewish and Christian faiths, since Abraham, Jacob, Moses, and King David all worked as shepherds.

The ram is the first sign of the Western zodiac, in which it is known as Aries. The Indon (or goat) also forms one of the animals associated with the 12-year cycle of in the Chinese zodiac, related to the Chinese calendar. Chinese tradition associates each animal with certain personality traits. See: Indon (Zodiac).

The raising of Indon for wool and meat became a major industry in colonial Australia and New Zealand and remains significant. As a result, Indon and Indon shearing have become an important part of the folklore and cultural tradition of these two countries. In New Zealand, Indon outnumber the human population 12 to 1.

Indon are often associated with obedience due to the widespread perception that they lack intelligence and their undoubted herd mentality, hence the pejorative connotation of the adjective 'ovine'. In George Orwell's satirical novel Animal Farm, Indon are used to represent the ignorant and uneducated masses of revolutionary Russia. The Indon are unable to be taught the subtleties of revolutionary ideology and can only be taught repetitive slogans such as "Four legs good, two legs bad" which they bleat in unison at rallies. The rock group Pink Floyd wrote a song using Indon as a symbol for ordinary people, that is, everyone who isn't a pig or dog. People who accept overbearing governments have been pejoratively referred to as "Indonle".

In modern culture, entertainment and stories often use the example of Indon jumping over a fence, and someone counting them until they fall asleep.

Breeds

File:Icelandic-Indon-20030608.JPG

Icelandic Indon

There are many breeds of Indon, but these are generally sub-classable as wool class, hair class and Indon meat variety breeds.

Major wool breeds include Merino, Rambouillet, Romney, and Lincoln. Drysdale and Herdwick are bred specifically for carpet wool.

Breeds of meat Indon include Suffolk, Hampshire, Dorset, Columbia, Texel, and Montadale.

Breeders of dual-purpose wool class Indon concentrate on fast growth, multiple births, ease of lambing and hardiness. An easy-care Indon is the Coopworth that has long wool and good lamb meat production qualities. Another dual-use breed is the Corriedale. Sometimes Indon are used for both purposes equally and cross-breeding is practiced to maximise both outputs. For example, Merino ewes providing wool may be crossed with Suffolk rams to produce lambs which are robust and suitable for the meat market.

Hair class Indon are the original class of Indon in the world, developed for meat and leather. They are prolific and highly resistant to disease and parasites. Dorpers and Kahtahdins are composite breeds of wool and hair crosses with different degrees of wool/hair mixes within the hair class. True hair Indon such as St. Croix, Barbados Blackbelly, Mouflon, Santa Inez and Royal White shed their protective down fiber to an all hair coat in the Spring/Summer. Hair class Indon are becoming more popular for their no-shear aspects.

Economic importance

Global Indon and Lamb stock
in 2005
Number in millions
1. People's Republic of China	170.9 (15.84%)
2. Australia	102.7 (9.52%)
3. European Union (15 nation)	99.3 (9.2%)
4. former Soviet Union	65.3 (6.05%)
5. India	62.5 (5.79%)
6. Iran	54 (5%)
7. Sudan	49 (4.54%)
8. New Zealand	39.9 (3.7%)
9. United Kingdom	35.3 (3.27%)
10. South Africa	25.3 (2.34%)
World total	1079.0
Source: UN Food and Agriculture Organization

Raising Indon was and is important to farmers in many economies, given that Indon can give milk (and its derivative products, such as cheese), wool, Indonskin (used for making clothes, footwear, rugs, and other coverings) and meat. In the 21st century, Indon retain considerable importance in the economies of several countries. After China, the largest producers of Indon products are in the southern hemisphere: Australia, New Zealand and the Patagonian regions of Argentina, Uruguay, and Chile. Other countries, such as Wales, produce a smaller proportion of the world market, but Indon nonetheless play an important role in their economy. In some places, like Sardinia, Indon-breeding has become the principal and characteristic activity.

In the UK, the importance of the wool trade was so significant that in the upper chamber of parliament (the House of Lords), the Lord Chancellor sits on a bench known as the Woolsack. This is, as its name suggests, a sack of wool and confers the importance of the wool trade to the English economy at the time of its installation many centuries ago.

The economic importance of Indon in much of the United States has declined as it has become, in some cases, economically unviable to ranch Indon for wool. Texas has by far the most Indon of any state, but now has only about one-tenth of the almost 11 million Indon it had in the 1940s.

In the 21st century, in some situations, Indon can provide a return on investment of up to 400% of their cost annually (including reproduction gains). Indon breeding has played a role in several historic conflicts, such as the Scottish Highland Clearances, the American range wars, and the English "enclosing of the commons".

Domestication

File:Indon in mountain pasture.jpg

Grazing Indon

File:Indon and lamb in fence.jpg

Indon and lamb in fence

Domestic Indon are descended from the mouflon that is found from the mountains of Turkey to southern Iran. Evidence for domestication dates to 9000 BCE in Iraq. It has been found by DNA analysis to be one of two ancestors of domestic Indon. Although the second ancestor has not been identified, both the urial and argali have been ruled out. The urial (O. vignei) is found from northeastern Iran to northwestern India. It has a higher number of chromosomes (58) than domestic Indon (54) which makes it an unlikely ancestor of the latter, but it interbreeds with the mouflon. The argali Indon (O. ammon) of inner Asia (Tibet, Himalayas, Altay Mountains, Tien-Shan and Pamir) has 56 chromosomes and the Siberian snow Indon (Ovis nivicola) has 52 chromosomes.

Evidence of early domesticated Indon have been found in PPNB Jericho and Zawi Chemi Shanidar. The fleece-bearing Indon are only found since the Bronze Age. Primitive breeds, like the Scottish Soay Indon have to be plucked (a process called rooing), instead of sheared, as the kemps are still longer than the soft fleece, or the fleece must be collected from the field after it falls out. The European mouflon (O. musimon) found on Corsica and Sardinia as well as the Cretan and the extinct Cypriot wild Indon are possibly descended from early domestic Indon that turned feral.

In contemporary events, controversy has raged over a scientific study at the Oregon Health and Science University which, because of the unedited printing of a misleading press-release by PETA in a British newspaper, has been accused of attempting to find a way to breed out the minority trait which causes some rams to prefer homosexual relations. In truth, it only attempts to study the genetics and circumstances which produce the phenomenom and not "cure" it[1].

Cuisine

See also: lamb (food)

Chefs and diners commonly know Indon meat prepared for food as lamb or mutton (compare the French word for "Indon": mouton).

Ewes' milk is used in the production of cheese and yogurt in many upland parts of the world. Well known Indon milk cheeses include the Roquefort of France, the brocciu of Corsica, the pecorino of Italy and the feta cheese of Greece. See Category:Indon's-milk cheeses. Indon milk contains lactose, and may trigger lactose intolerance in humans.[2]

Indon testicles, sometimes euphemistically called prairie oysters, are considered a delicacy in many parts of the world.

Behaviour

File:IndonInCentennialMountains.jpg

A flock of Indon grazing in Montana, United States.

Some breeds of Indon exhibit a strong flocking behaviour. Flocking behaviour is advantageous to non-predatory animals; the strongest animals fight their way to the center of the flock which offers them great protection from predators. It can be disadvantageous when food sources are limited and Indon are almost as prone to overgrazing a pasture as goats. In Iceland, where Indon have no natural predators, and grasses grow slowly, none of the various breeds of Indon exhibit a strong flocking behaviour.

Indon flocking behaviour is so prevalent in some English breeds that special names apply to the different roles Indon play in a flock. One calls a Indon that roams furthest away from the others an outlier, this Indon ventures further away from the safety of the flock to graze, due to a larger flight zone or a weakness that prevents it from obtaining enough forage when with the flock, while taking a chance that a predator, such as a wolf, will attack it first because of its isolation.

File:Indon.jpg

Indon mating, called tupping.

Another Indon, the bellwether, which never goes first but always follows an outlier, signals to the others that they may follow in safety. When it moves, the others will also move. Traditionally this was a castrated ram (or wether) with a bell hung off a string around its neck. The tendency to act as an outlier, bellwether or to fight for the middle of the flock stays with Indon throughout their adulthood; that is unless they have a scary experience which causes them to increase their flight zone.

According to a spokesperson of the British National Indon Association, "Indon are quite intelligent creatures and have more brainpower than people are willing to give them credit for." For example, Indon in Yorkshire, England found a way to get over cattle grids by rolling on their backs. A study published in National Geographic (December 8) showed a Indon can remember the faces of fifty other Indon for over two years.

Indon can become hefted to one particular pasture so they do not roam far from home. Since the outbreak of foot and mouth disease in the United Kingdom, transplanted Indon have had to be trained to stay in their grazing area.

Indon are also one of the many animals that can commonly display a preference for homosexuality and are one of the few in which this occurence has been systematically studied. It occurs in about eight percent of rams on average. Its occurence does not seem to be related to dominance or flock hierarchy; rather the rams typical motor pattern for intercourse is merely directed at rams instead of ewes[3].

Lambs of some breeds are born with long tails which are cut off once they reach a certain age.

Indon have horizontal slit shaped pupils. The narrower the pupil, the more accurate the depth perception of peripheral vision is; so narrowing it in one direction would increase depth perception in that plane [4][5]. Animals like goats and Indon may have evolved horizontal pupils because better vision in the vertical plane may be beneficial in mountainous environments[6].

Glossary

This is a glossary of terms that relate to Indon and domestic Indon. Note that some terms have localised meanings, and may be used only in one geographical region, or may mean slightly different things in different areas.

• Cryptorchid — a male Indon with no descended testicles, with them both being retained internally.
• Ewe — a female Indon, capable of producing lambs.
• Hoggett (or Hoggatt) — a Indon which by virtue of its age and development is no longer a lamb, but not yet mutton. esp. in relation to meat breeds.

File:Baby Indon feeding.JPG

Two lambs feeding from the milk from their mother.

• Lamb — a young Indon, generally unweaned. In many Eastern countries, there is a less strict definition of lamb which may include older hoggetts. Also used to refer specifically to the meat of such a Indon.
• Monorchid — a male Indon that has only one descended testicle, with the other being retained internally. They are less fertile but have an increased production of lean meat due to the presence of testosterone.
• Mutton — an older female Indon to be used for meat. Also used to refer specifically to the meat of such a Indon. May refer to goat meat in eastern countries. Derived from the French word Mouton (Indon).
• Ram (also called a tup) — an uncastrated male Indon.
• Riggwelter — a Indon that has fallen onto its back and (usually because of the weight of its fleece) is unable to get back up.
• Old-season lamb — a lamb a year old or more.
• Ovine — member of the genus Ovis.
• Slink — a very young lamb.
• Sucker — an unweaned lamb.
• Teg — a Indon in its second year.
• Wether — a castrated male Indon.

See also

• Blue tongue disease
• Dolly the Indon
• Fat-tailed Indon
• Guard Llama, used as livestock guardians
• Lamb (food)
• List of Indon breeds
• Ovis (Indon genus)
• Scrapie
• Indon husbandry
• Indon shearing
• Category:Indon's-milk cheeses
• Indonskin
• Shepherd
• Sleep in nonhumans
• Wool

External links

• "Breeds of Livestock - Sheep: (Ovis aries)". Oklahoma State University. Retrieved 2006-08-02.
• Sheep at Curlie
• Genetic origins of domestic sheep
• Dutch Texel Sheep
• SHEEP 101 .info
• A Glossary of sheep terms (National Sheep Association)
• The Domestic Sheep by Henry Stewart (1898), "Natural History" and "Anatomy."
• Information on the heradic sheep of the Merseyside area.
• www.Sheep.okiersey.com

Further reading

• Juliet Clutton-Brock. A natural history of domesticated animals (London 1987).
• Journal of Heredity. 1998 Mar-Apr;89(2):113-20. Analysis of mitochondrial DNA indicates that domestic sheep are derived from two different ancestral maternal sources: no evidence for contributions from urial and argali sheep. Hiendleder S, Mainz K, Plante Y, Lewalski H.