Most expensive sheep-world record set by Deveronvale
Perfection
LANARK, UK -- Deveronvale Perfection, a Scottish
ram, has sold for a staggering 231,000 pounds ($347,000) -setting
the new world record for the Most
expensive sheep.
Photo:Graham Morrison with his ram and
helper Scott Michie / pic from Texel Sheep Society (enlarge
photo)
The world
record sheep could make its new owner, a good return and
go on to be worth millions after selling its semen and progeny
around the world.
The sheep was sold at the Scottish National
Texel Sale at Lankark Market. The pedigree ram was bred by
Graham Morrison, of Banff, and bought by Fraserburgh
farmer Jimmy Douglas.
The high price has been put down to the
sheep's strong physical attributes. Breeder Graham Morrison,
of Banff, Scotland, says he was staggered by the price but
insists Deveronvale Perfection lives up to his name.
Deveronvale Perfection broke the seven-year-old
British record of around 134,000 pounds for a Texel ram and
the world record for a sheep in Australia in the 1980s.
Britain's previous most expensive sheep,
Tophill Joe, was bought for 128,000 pounds six years ago.
He died recently after fathering lambs worth more than 1 million
pounds.
John Yates, Chief Executive of the
Texel
Sheep Society, said the industry was shocked by the
high price.
"The staggering amount surprised many. A lot
of people see these animals as lamb chops, but these flocks
are at the top of the genetic pile. This was the elite animal
that stood out," he said. "Most people would see it as a ridiculous
price for a sheep but, for a sheep breeder, it is an investment,"
he added. Related world records: Fastest
female shearer-world record set by Emily Welch
