Australian Merino

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Australian Merino
Head of a ram
Conservation status
Country of originAustralia
Distribution
  • Australia
  • New Zealand
Use
  • meat
  • wool
Traits
Horn status
Champion ram, 1913
Merino hoggets being drenched near Walcha, New South Wales

The Australian Merino is an Australian breed or group of breeds of sheep, forming a significant part of the Merino group of breeds. Its origins lie in Merino sheep imported to Australia from South Africa in about 1796. By about 1830 there were almost two million Merinos in the country.[3]: 746 

Using the skills of breeding and selection, the Australian Merino developed inline with Australia’s large variations in climatic conditions, management and husbandry techniques.[4] The Australian Merino produces a wool that is the world’s finest and softest.[5]

History

In 1790, Charles IV of Spain sent a gift of Merino sheep from the Escorial cavana to the government of the Dutch Republic.[6]: 9  They did not thrive there, but did well in the Dutch Cape Colony, in what is now South Africa.[3]: 746 

The origins of the Australian Merino lie in some of those sheep imported to Australia by John Macarthur in 1796. By about 1830, there were almost two million Merinos in the country.[3]: 746 

The original strain bred by Macarthur survives as the Camden Park or Macarthur Merino.[7] The four principal breeds or strains that developed within the Australian Merino group were the Peppin,[8] the Saxon,[9] the South Australian[10] and the Spanish.[3]: 746 [11] The Poll Merino or Australian Poll Merino is a recently-created polled variant.[3]: 747 [12] Other strains recognised as breeds include the Booroola Merino,[13] the Bungaree Merino,[14] the Dohne Merino,[15] the Fonthill Merino,[16] the Tasmanian Merino (which derives from the Saxon);[3]: 746 [17] and the Trangie Fertility.[18]

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Australian Merino.
  1. ^ Barbara Rischkowsky, Dafydd Pilling (editors) (2007). List of breeds documented in the Global Databank for Animal Genetic Resources, annex to The State of the World's Animal Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture. Rome: Commission on Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. ISBN 9789251057629. Archived 23 June 2020.
  2. ^ Breed data sheet: Australian Merino / Australia (Sheep). Domestic Animal Diversity Information System of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Accessed June 2021.
  3. ^ a b c d e f Valerie Porter, Lawrence Alderson, Stephen J.G. Hall, D. Phillip Sponenberg (2016). Mason's World Encyclopedia of Livestock Breeds and Breeding (sixth edition). Wallingford: CABI. ISBN 9781780647944.
  4. ^ "Evolution of the Australian Merino". Australian Association of Stud Merino Breeders. Retrieved 20 September 2023.
  5. ^ "What is Merino wool & how is it made?". The Woolmark Company. Retrieved 20 September 2023.
  6. ^ David Cottle (2010). International Sheep and Wool Handbook. Nottingham: Nottingham University Press. ISBN 9781904761860.
  7. ^ Breed data sheet: Camden Park / Australia (Sheep). Domestic Animal Diversity Information System of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Accessed June 2021.
  8. ^ Breed data sheet: Peppin / Australia (Sheep). Domestic Animal Diversity Information System of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Accessed June 2021.
  9. ^ Breed data sheet: Saxon / Australia (Sheep). Domestic Animal Diversity Information System of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Accessed June 2021.
  10. ^ Breed data sheet: South Australian Merino/ Australia (Sheep). Domestic Animal Diversity Information System of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Accessed June 2021.
  11. ^ Breed data sheet: Spanish / Australia (Sheep). Domestic Animal Diversity Information System of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Accessed June 2021.
  12. ^ Breed data sheet: Poll Merino / Australia (Sheep). Domestic Animal Diversity Information System of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Accessed June 2021.
  13. ^ Breed data sheet: Booroola Merino / Australia (Sheep). Domestic Animal Diversity Information System of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Accessed June 2021.
  14. ^ data sheet: Bungaree Merino / Australia (Sheep). Domestic Animal Diversity Information System of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Accessed June 2021.
  15. ^ Breed data sheet: Dohne Merino / Australia (Sheep). Domestic Animal Diversity Information System of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Accessed June 2021.
  16. ^ Breed data sheet: Fonthill Merino / Australia (Sheep). Domestic Animal Diversity Information System of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Accessed June 2021.
  17. ^ Breed data sheet: Tasmanian Merino / Australia (Sheep). Domestic Animal Diversity Information System of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Accessed June 2021.
  18. ^ Breed data sheet: Trangie Fertility / Australia (Sheep). Domestic Animal Diversity Information System of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Accessed June 2021.
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