The Somali sheep, occasionally known as the Berbera Blackhead, is a hair sheep native to Somalia

Somalia

Somalia , officially the Somali Republic and formerly known as the Somali Democratic Republic under Socialist rule, is a country located in the Horn of Africa. Since the outbreak of the Somali Civil War in 1991 there has been no central government control over most of the country's territory...

. The animal is reared primarily for meat production and it is one of the major exports of the Somali economy

Economy

An economy consists of the economic system of a country or other area; the labor, capital and land resources; and the manufacturing, trade, distribution, and consumption of goods and services of that area...

.

Appearance

The Somali sheep is white with a black head. Both sexes are polled and the breed belongs to the fat-tail type. There is an active trade going on for this kind of sheeps to the GCC countries especialy to Saudi Arabia although this kind of sheeps is cnsidered to be a low quality meat. Somali sheep are the immediate ancestor of the Blackhead Persian

Blackhead Persian (sheep)

The Blackhead Persian is a fat-tailed breed of domestic sheep from Africa.The sheep is originally from Somaliland . The breed is also a type of hair sheep, meaning they do not grow wool and tolerate heat better than wooled breeds and are raised primarily for meat...

 which was developed in South Africa

South Africa

The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...

 in the late 19th century and early 20th century and which has been widely used for crossbreeding in many parts of Africa

Africa

Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...

and elsewhere in the tropics.