Heidi Augustine, age 10, of Helena, Mont., for her question:
WHERE DID SHEEP ORIGINATE?
Long before man started to write history, shepherds watchedflocks of sheep in the fields to guard them against wild animals. Although today sheep are found in all parts of the world, scientists tell us that they originally came from the high plateaus and mountains of Central Asia.
Today the largest of the wild sheep still lives in the Altai Mountains of Siberia and Mongolia. Called the argali, it is directly related to the world's first sheep. The male argali stands four feet high at the shoulders and has spiral horns 20 inches around.
About half a dozen other kinds of wild sheep live in Asia now. Included is the Marco Polo sheep that live on the Asian plateaus of Pamir, three miles above sea level. The Marco Polo sheep is a bit smaller than the argali, but it is remarkable for the wild spread of its horns.
Australia has become the world's leading sheep producing country. Here, about one sixth of the world's sheep are raised. In Australia there are about 15 sheep for every person. Russia and China come in second and third, while New Zealand is the fourth leading sheep country in the world. In New Zealand there are 20 sheep for every person.
Here are the 10 leading sheep raising states, listed in order of importance: Texas, Wyoming, Colorado, California, South Dakota, Montana, Utah, New Mexico, Idaho and Ohio. Texas has about 3.5 million sheep, while second place Wyoming has about 1.5 million.
Sheep are among the most important animals that man has tamed because they yield wool, meat and leather. They also furnish the raw materials for many byproducts, such as glue, tallow, suet, soap, fertilizer, cosmetics and the catgut for stringing for some tennis rackets.
Sheep can bite off grass much closer to the ground than cattlecan. In fact, when sheep have eaten their fill of a field, there is little plant life left.
All domestic breeds of sheep are descended from two different kinds of wild sheep: the urial that lives in Southern Asia and the mouflon of Europe. Domestic sheep have been slowly and carefully changed from their wild ancestors. Originally, the wild sheep were used for their hides and milk and also to carry burdens.
Very early they became important for their fleece. Through careful breeding, the coarse hair that covered the wild sheep was replaced with a soft coat of wool. Only in the last 200 years have breeders developed sheep primarily for their meat. Many of the animals from Australia and New Zealand are bred especially for the dinner tables around the world. Lots of the American sheep are also raised for food. Sheep today are classified into five groups, depending upon their fleece. These are fine wool, long wool, crossbred wool, medium wool and coarse wool.