The missing 90

Search for Australia’s ugliest sheep enters critical stage

14 August 2006


Wrinkled, lumpy, balding or just plain funny looking, Australian scientists have repeated their earnest call for the country’s farmers to be on the look out for very ugly and unusual merino sheep.

Following the Autumn lamb drop, farmers from Townsville to Broome have spotted 10 ugly candidates, but scientists are frustrated by statistics that suggest they are missing a further 90 that could fit the bill.

The national scientific team led by scientists from SARDI (South Australian Research and Development Institute) and the University of Adelaide hope with a new Spring drop of lambs on the way, luck will turn their way.

“Sheep with extreme and even undesirable features hold the key to unlocking the merino genetic library. The information will help identify superior wool qualities needed to make Australia’s $2.8 billion wool industry more competitive ” says Dr Simon Bawden, SARDI’s project leader for the joint Australian Wool Innovation Limited and Meat and Livestock Australia initiative – the Sheep Genomics Program.

“Normally these lambs are culled because they may have uneven wool, strange fibres, clumps of wool that fall out, bare patches, no wool, unusual crimp, extra-lustrous wool, or even highly wrinkled skin.

 “Before sending them to the abattoir, we’d like farmers to talk to us first, because studying animals with extreme features offers one of the most efficient ways to find good genes that can impact on certain wool traits.   

 “It might seem a paradox that ugly wool may be good, but when looking through a genetic profile, the random genetic mistakes act like a flag, speeding up our search to finding genes critical to wool formation and synthesis.”  

 With Spring lambing around the corner, Dr Bawden said the scientific team hope that farmers, animal handlers, shearers and abattoir staff will be vigilant in helping them find `xtreme’ lambs that exhibit the naturally occurring random mutations causing unusual fleeces.

 “The current rate of incremental improvements to wool quality is around 1% per year,” Dr Bawden said.

 “Through accessing the latest DNA-based technology, we hope that these ugly sheep will help us make quantum leaps to make wool more stretchy, less scratchy, shinier and easier to spin, to compete against synthetic fibres.”  

Collection of wool samples or transportation of sheep, can be arranged by contacting Darryl Smith, SARDI Livestock Systems, on (08) 8303 7635 or 0401122176 or emailing details and pictures to: smith.darryl@saugov.sa.gov.au

Media interviews: Dr Simon Bawden: 8303 7604; or 0418 105 855; Pictures available from SARDI media: Grace Taylor: 8303 9433 or 0401 122 128.  Please acknowledge pictures, courtesy Rural Press.