Santa Cruz

By the 1860s thousands of sheep grazed the island freely, and when The Nature Conservancy took control of most of it in 1978 the feral population was estimated at over 20,000. By then the sheep had overgrazed the island and were a threat to native plants, so an eradication program began in 1980.

The Livestock Conservancy argued the sheep were worth saving in their own right, and the two organizations agreed on a rescue. In 1988 volunteers took twelve lambs off the island and placed them with five California breeders. More came off in 1991.

Everything alive today traces to those animals, which makes this one of the rarest sheep breeds in the country. By 2017 fewer than a dozen breeders were working with them in the United States.

Small, as island populations tend to be: ewes run 55 to 88 lb and rams 77 to 110 lb. Most are white, but black, brown and spotted sheep occur.

The wool is the surprise. It is fine to medium and very soft, unusual for a feral island breed, and unusually elastic. There is little or no wool on the belly, face and legs, and many carry a short, woolless rat tail.

Alert and docile. Rams are usually not aggressive, and unlike some primitive breeds they can be herded with dogs.

Lambing is a non-event: the Conservancy records virtually no birthing problems and a high lamb survival rate. These ewes raised lambs on an unmanaged island for generations without anyone watching.

Wool first, and the conservation of the breed itself is a legitimate second use: with a population this small, a well-run breeding flock is the product.

They thrive on marginal forage in hot, dry country, so they suit the same low-input western smallholdings their ancestors escaped from.

Heat and drought are what they are built for; lush ground and heavy feeding are not. Give them marginal forage and space and they look after themselves.

They are exceptionally hardy, and their management needs are closer to a land-management project than to a commercial flock.

Critical on The Livestock Conservancy's Conservation Priority List, and one of the rarest sheep in North America; counts since the rescue have run in the low hundreds. The registry is kept by The Livestock Conservancy itself.

The Conservancy adds a caveat worth repeating: selection off the island will change the breed over time. What you buy now is closer to the island animal than what will exist in fifty years.

Registration runs through the Santa Cruz Island Sheep Registry, which The Livestock Conservancy maintains. Ask how the animal traces to the 1988 and 1991 removals; every legitimate Santa Cruz does.

Expect scarcity to shape everything: few breeders, small breeding groups, and real work managing inbreeding. Talk to the seller about which lines the animal carries and what unrelated stock exists.

Recent sale prices on HoofnHorn, where there are any, are further down this page.