The future of the rare, seaweed-eating sheep that have thrived on the tiny island of North Ronaldsay, the most northerly on Orkney’s archipelago, since Neolithic times looks to be secure thanks to a charity formed a year ago.
The Orkney Sheep Foundation (OSF) aims to protect the North Ronaldsay breed, which is famed for living exclusively on the seashore, except in the lambing season, when the ewes are brought inland.
The animals’ digestion is so accustomed to a diet of kelp that they need to be kept on the shore by a 13-mile dry-stone wall (sheep dyke) built in 1832 that encircles the island, otherwise they risk getting copper poisoning from eating too much grass inland or cross-breeding.
The OSF is currently raising funds to repair three miles of the sheepdyke that have been severely damaged by ferocious storms. To donate, visit www.theorkneysheepfoundation.org.uk
-
If the future of Ferrari is electric vehicles, then it is our future tooIt's widely believed that Ferrari will unveil its first electric car this year. It's the signal that the internal combustion era is coming to an end.
-
Gaze over Cap Ferrat in this four-bedroom French villaIgnore the wind and the rain. Imagine yourself in this hillside home with some of the best views the Mediterranean can offer.
