Animal of the Month

1. Keith Kendrick, a professor of physics at Gresham College in London, found that sheep can recognise the faces of at least 50 other sheep.
2. Many sheep who are bred for their wool undergo a cruel procedure called mulesing, in which huge chunks of skin and flesh are cut off without any painkillers.
3. Sheep are intelligent and social animals who have a fun-loving and playful side.
4. Sheep experience fear when they are separated from their social groups or approached by strangers. Studies show their heart rates increase by 20 beats per minute when they are unable to see any members of their flock and by 84 beats per minute when they are approached by a person or a dog.
5. Vegetarians are people who choose not to eat the flesh of sheep or other animals.
6. Celebrities including Joaquin Phoenix have written to the Australian minister for agriculture asking him to end the live export of sheep. Every year, millions of Australian sheep are packed onto crowded ships and sent to the Middle East and North Africa. Many sheep who are shipped this way suffer and die from smothering, starvation, heatstroke, injuries and disease.
7. Scientists have found that sheep are afraid of being alone and feel much calmer when other sheep – or even pictures of other sheep – are around.
8. Professor John Webster of the University of Bristol discovered that, like humans, sheep visibly express their emotions. Sheep show signs of depression by hanging their heads and avoiding positive actions.
9. Studies have shown that sheep can remember 50 images for up to two years.
10. There are many alternatives to wool for people who do not wish to wear it, including cotton flannel, polyester fleece and Polartec Wind Pro – a fleece with four times the wind resistance of wool.