PESHAWAR, July 15: Researchers have located a unique breed of sheep which is capable of producing four lambs in a year and have appealed to the authorities to prevent its extinction.

According to Suhail Ahmad, a lecturer of Livestock Management, Agricultural University, Peshawar, he discovered the sheep two years back in the remote areas of Tehsil Lot Koh (Parabic and Begusht valleys) in Chitral district.

He said that at the time he was in Chitral district conducting training programme for women farmers. He was surprised to hear from the people there that the particular sheep had gestation period of 150-days and its breeding was season bound.

This meant that the sheep could lamb three times in a year. It can even breed ten days after normal lambing.

This information left his and colleagues baffled. Riaz Khan, a resident of Dir district was asked to investigate the issue further, which he did and published a paper entitled, “The Kari sheep: a genetic heritage”.

For further research, 16 sheep of that particular kind were brought to Dir district and it was discovered that these animals could produce even four lambs in 12 months.

Across the Lowari top this unique breed is also a source of fine wool used for making famous Chitral Patti.

Ahmad thinks it is difficult, it is difficult to call the animal a sheep, but the gestation period is one of the determinant characters of the specie, but still it has all its phenotypic and behavioural resemblance that of a sheep.

“At present we will call it “sheep” until a proper categorization of the animal is done,” he remarked.

The animal is called Kari in local language, and raised in all union councils of Tehsil Lot Koh of Chitral district. Kari is a light breed with thin tail, with no definite coat colour, but the white colour is predominant. Its ears are short - males have horns and females do not. It has an average adult body weight of 21.85kg for male and 18.43kg female.

Birth weight of lambs single birth is 2.16kg, heavier than twin lambs. Height and girth for a ram averaged 55.79cm and 68.12cm and for ewe is 50.11cm and 63.61cm, respectively. Its annual wool production is 868gm which is obtained in three shearings.

Kari sheep has litter size of 1.2 producing 3.88 lambs per annum. But the unique specie is on the verge of extinction because a local organization is introducing Kail, a sheep from Azad Kashmir, to enhance wool production and adult weight.

The presence of Bulkhi and Gadik sheep, from Afghanistan has also endangered the existence of this rare sheep.

The researchers argue that a habitat-based research station should be established for studying its future characteristics and a programme should be initiated for the development of the breed in the area.

The people of the area say that the number of such sheep is roughly 20,000 and most of them depend on these animals for their sustenance.