Why you should always befriend agronomists...

In a previous posting, we showed a photo of one of the strangest animals we'd seen in Namibia--spotted at the Windhoek Show. The photo is re-posted here.

In the caption for the photo, we noted that "this breed of goats" was very unusual because of the thick tail, and that we were not sure of the breed's name.

It turns out to be a very interesting breed of goat. So interesting, in fact, that it is really a sheep.

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I learned this information from our good friend Uapii, tonight, who tactfully shared with me that I had misidentified it on the blog. He's a good man, that Uapii. I think it may have been difficult to tell a big guy who grew up on a farm that he can't tell a sheep from a goat.

The breed is a Damara Sheep, and the breed has been around southern African since 200-400 AD. It's also called a 'fat-tailed' sheep, which is pretty descriptive. It's an indigenous breed to southern Africa.

Thanks for the correction Uapii. I have to say that the conversation at our social gathering, following Uapii's correction was stimulating. Lots of educated people trying to decide how one tells a sheep from a goat. The best answer: sheep have curly horns...

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Uapii noted that every species of goat in Africa has a tail shorter than your hand. If it has a long tail, it's a sheep. So, now I know. This is why it is good to have agronomist friends, like Uapii.

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I still think it looks more like a dog with horns.