Breeder calls for public to support native sheep

A Manx Loaghtan sheep breeder has said more should to be done to protect the rare species at risk.

Native to the Isle of Man, the species has been added to the urgent priority list by the Rare Breeds Survival Trust (RBST).

It follows a drop in numbers of the species, flocks of which can also be found in n parts of the UK and in the Channel Islands, registered with the conservation group.

Ruth Meade of Red Mie Farm in the north of the island said: "They're part of our heritage and our landscape and if they go they will be gone forever."

The animals previously had a brush with extinction in the 1950s when numbers had declined after the introduction of other hill breeds.

While the species experienced a revival, the disbanding of one of the island's biggest farms last year has seen numbers significantly decline once more.

The RBST has called for the UK's environment secretary to re-establish a ministerial native breeds roundtable, which "was designed to support strategic and co-ordinated action for native breeds".

Mrs Meade has been breeding Loaghtan for 16 years with her husband and they have about 100 sheep at any one time.

She said after the disbanding of a farm that bred the species last year, the island lost about 1,000 animals, representing a third of local stock.

"There has been a significant drop in the numbers of Loaghtan just because of that one event," she explained.

Mrs Meade said there were concerns among farmers that "there are very few young people" breeding the species.

While more breeders and keepers were needed, she said the public also had an important part to play.

"The public do need to support the other side of it by purchasing the products - the meat and the wool - which will enable breeders to keep them," she said.

She added there should be "a government interest in preserving the breed because it is heritage, and the last native farm animal to the island".

The Department of Environment, Food and Agriculture (Defa) said it helped to re-establish the Manx Loaghtan Breeders Association in 2024 and "continues to support its work".

It said a Defa representative would be attending the group's next meeting, which takes place this month, to "understand what else can be done to support the breed".

Breeders also had access to funding through the department's agricultural support schemes, which rewarded conservation and sustainable food production, "both of which the breed contributes to", the department added.

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