Bred: Smooth Sheep Ass

By Jodi Young

Noticed that wrinkle on the forehead? Spent hours researching different wrinkle free treatments? Well don’t worry the answer has been found...if you’re a sheep.

Australian researchers have bred wrinkle-free sheep, not to discover the cure for ageing but as a cure from fly-strike and as an alternative for the cruel procedure of mulesing.

Fly-strike can be a lethal disease for sheep where fly larvae burrow into and feed on the animal’s flesh. This is currently prevented by the process of mulesing, where strips of wool-bearing wrinkled skin around the tail of the sheep are removed. However this is a cruel and painful practice that has resulted in some European fashion retailers boycotting Australian wool.

Folds in the skin around the tail trap moisture creating ideal breeding conditions for flies but merino sheep genetically bred to be wrinkle-free don’t have these folds and appear to be resistant to the disease. Jim Watts, who runs the breeding consultancy SRS Company, said “In our experience it makes them immune to fly-strike”.

Wrinkle free sheep were first bred in the 1930s, around the same time as mulesing, but lost out as the method of choice. However, due to international pressure to phase out mulesing by 2010, Watts hopes this will provide a favourable alternative. According to the Australian Wool Industry, breeding is one of the alternative methods, along with clipping of the skin and drug use that are currently being researched.

So the future for Australian sheep seems to be happier, healthier and wrinkle-free, if only that could transcend to the human population.

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