A domestic sheep spread around the world by people. It tends to move together with other sheep.
Wool, horns and coat color vary among breeds. Females are generally smaller than males.
In a 2017 photograph-based experiment, sheep selected familiar human faces. Researchers at the University of Cambridge tested eight female Welsh Mountain sheep. Over four days, they trained the sheep to choose photographs of four celebrities over unfamiliar faces, using food rewards. Training involved 12 choices per day, followed by one 15-trial test session.
The same four people then appeared in new photographs, facing forward or tilted to the left or right. Across the eight sheep, the familiar celebrity faces were chosen on 68.0% of trials. The sheep also chose a photograph of a regular handler over an unfamiliar face on 71.8% of trials. The handler spent at least two hours a day with the flock, and her photograph appeared three times in the test session.
An extinction-risk assessment has not been added yet.
The UK government’s native-breed list, updated in June 2026, classifies North Ronaldsay among sheep breeds “at risk.” This UK breed-level category applies to breeds with an estimated 6,000 or fewer breeding females.