Hot Weather Sheep Sighting

I had limited up close access to sheep in Costa Rica. Only at a petting "zoo" located at INBIO Park in San Jose was I able to view this example of  a tropical breed, which I think is the Pelibuey, mentioned in an earlier post. I can't be sure but they look somewhat similar. As you can see, there was multi-species co-habitation going on here. I manged to sneak a sample of the fleece home with me, provided by the generous sheep "molting" in the photos. Considering the warm temps there, I don't think it is missed.

Data on sheep in Costa Rica . . . so, I may have some possible sightings afterall!


The total population of sheep in Costa Rica is approximately 7000 head and is distributed mainly throughout Guanacaste, Puntarenas, and Alajuela provinces [2]. The majority of flocks are sheep-cattle mixed (71.4%) and rotational grazing (52.4%) in pastures consisting of Hyparrhenia rufa and Brachiaria brizantha; also, minerals are part of feeding. The most common breeds are Pelibuey (52.4%) and Barbados (33.3%) [2]. The average flock size is 100 sheep. From http://www.hindawi.com/journals/vmi/2011/145312/

This is what a Barbados looks like: 

Both photos and definition courtesy of Sheep101.info 

http://www.sheep101.info/breedsA.html#Barbados

The Barbados Blackbelly is an indigenous breed to the Caribbean island of Barbados. It descends from sheep brought to the islands from West Africa during the slave era. Blackbellies are "antelope like" in appearance, brown tan or yellow in color, with black points and under-parts. Both ewes and rams are polled or have only small scurs or diminutive horns.

They may have some visible fuzzy wool undercoat within their hair coat, but it should shed along with the hair each year. Barbados Blackbelies are noted for their extreme hardiness and reproductive efficiency. They are one of the most prolific sheep breeds in the world.

Breed category: hair (meat); Breed distribution: Caribbean, Mexico, South America
Read History and Preservation of Barbados Blackbelly Sheep

And, this is what a Pelibuey looks like: 

Photo courtesy of Wikipedia

Photo courtesy of 

http://www.sheep101.info/breedsO-P.html

The Pelibüey (also known as Cubano Rojo)^[1] is a breed of domestic sheep native to the Caribbean, Mexico, South America. The Pelibüey is a breed of hair sheep, meaning they do not generally grow wool. This adaptation makes them especially useful for tropicalenvironments where heavily-wooled sheep do not thrive. The breed is thought to originate in Africa, specifically from the West African Dwarf sheep.^[2] This breed is primarily raised for meat.^[1]. From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pelib%C3%BCey_(sheep).