Scientists bank on plan to protect sheep breeds

The genebank was set up at the height of the foot-and-mouth crisis after breeders became increasingly concerned about the future of their stocks.

The breeders approached experts who then collected sheep semen and embryos that could be saved to protect the breeds if rare flocks were wiped out.

The first target of the Heritage GeneBank was the Herdwick breed which was depleted by almost 40 per cent during the crisis in the badly-hit Lake District.

Although the epidemic is over, The Sheep Trust charity has been set up to protect native breeds in Britain.

York University Professor Dianna Bowles, founder of the Heritage GeneBank and chairwoman of the trustees, said the most vulnerable sheep breeds were those that were regionally important and contributed directly to the rural economy both through farming and tourism.

"These are not the rare breeds," she said.

"Herdwicks are not rare, but it is crucially important to protect breeds such as these for their genetic bio-diversity and for the key role they play in the countryside.

"Breeds such as Herdwicks, Rough Fells and Dalesbred exist in large numbers and are commercially farmed, but nevertheless are threatened to extinction when a disease such as foot-and-mouth hits their homelands."

The Sheep Trust has drawn up a priority list of breeds needing immediate help, including North Yorkshire's Dalesbred and Swaledale breeds.

It is hoping to seek more funding for projects to protect and conserve more breeds at risk.

The scientific advisory team included senior scientists from the universities of York, Leeds and London and Scottish agricultural colleges at Edinburgh and Aberdeen.

The scientists are the new trustees of the charity.

Breeds on priority list

DALESBRED

A hardy, hill breed which is indigenous to the upper reaches of the Yorkshire Dales, but stretching into southern Lakeland and through the Dales. Used for crossbreeding to produce Mashams and Mules. The breed has round, low horns as well as a black face and a distinctive white mark above each nostril, the end of the muzzle becoming grey. The coat is plentiful and curly on the outside with a dense undercoat. It can survive harsh climatic conditions and is noted for its extended productive life.

SWALEDALE

The breed originated at the top of the Dales and is characterised by its distinctive grey muzzle and black face. It has a long, course outer coat and a dense undercoat which can withstand the coldest winters. Both ewes and lambs have long but curved horns which are sometimes carved and used for making shepherd's crooks and walking sticks. The breed is said to be particularly good as mothers, easy to manage and easy to cross and adapt well to surrounding areas. A Swaledale ram belonging to a North Yorkshire farmer made history last month when it was sold for £101,000.

BLACKFACE

The most numerous of British breeds, the Blackface is found over a wide spectrum of hill and marginal ground throughout Great Britain and Ireland. Blackfaces are horned and their fleeces should be free of black fibre, and can vary from short, fine wool used for carpets and tweeds to strong and coarse, which is mainly sold for the Italian mattress trade. The Northumberland Blackface is a large framed, soft-coated type found in the North which is influential in the breeding of the North of England mule.

HERDWICK

Widely considered to be the most hardy of Britain's breeds of hill sheep and can usually be found in the central and western dales of the Lake District. The Herdwick has a reputation for its foraging ability and many of them live without receiving any supplementary feed. They are usually drafted from the hill after three or four lambings and go on to produce several further crops of lambs.