There are about 1,500 Black Welsh Mountain sheep, a small and completely black sheep breed, in the United States and possibly 10,000 worldwide, says a story at Harvest Public Media. Some 200 of the the rare breed are on a 40-acre farm near Paonia, Colo, with owners who are dedicated to preserving genetic diversity in the sheep. Owner Oogie McGuire says she ships and receives Black Welsh Mountain sheep to ensure new bloodlines in the flock. For the past decade, researchers from USDA’s National Animal Germplasm Program have traveled to the farm, Desert Weyr, to collect genetic material from the sheep.
“The repository is meant to act as a gene bank in the event of a disaster, like a disease outbreak, but the genetic material is also public domain. Producers and researchers can request samples for study or to increase the genetic diversity of their animals,” says the story, which first aired on public broadcaster KVNF in Paonia.