Folks Are Unable To Decide If Blacknose Sheep Are Lovable Or Fearsome

May 23, 2020

From corgis to otters, social media is always ablaze with users discovering and sharing the cutest animals from around the world. If you’re a fan of lovable and fluffy fur babies, we think you’ll immediately fall head-over-heels for this extremely rare animal hailing all the way from Switzerland. Dubbed by animal fans across the globe as “the cutest sheep in the world,” meet one of the most adorable creatures on four legs — the Swiss Valais Blacknose sheep.

With their dark faces, charming and friendly personalities, long spiraling horns, black patterned legs and feet, and an absolutely gorgeous white fleece, it's clear to see the rapid rise in popularity and demand for the Swiss Valais Blacknose.

Since this type of sheep is extremely rare, one family of New Zealand farmers has joined a nationwide breeding program to import Swiss Valais Blacknose embryos from abroad to help make the cutest sheep on the planet go global.

Melissa and Hayden Cowan, two North Canterbury farmers, are currently trying to raise a flock of 100 Swiss Valais Blacknose ewes (i.e. female sheep). They imported their very first embryos from the United Kingdom in 2018. From the initial 32 embryos they purchased, they were able to birth 18 perfect baby lambs.

Those adorable fur faces came with a pretty steep price tag; however, as a single Swiss Valais embryo can cost upwards of $2000. After successfully raising the first herd of sheep, Melissa and Hayden purchased another 15 Swiss Valais Blacknose embryos this year!

This time around, the Cowan family had a much higher rate of success (approximately 80 percent), and the duo ended up birthing seven rams (i.e. male sheep) and four ewe lambs.

With no absolute guarantee of success during the breeding phase, it's clear to see that families like the Cowans are truly invested both financially and emotionally to the cause of increasing the number of Swiss Valais Blacknose available to people just like yourself.

If you’ve never heard of this adorable animal, chances are that some of your friends and family haven’t either. Feel free to help warm hearts this holiday season by spreading the word about “the cutest sheep in the world!” And if you can find a sheep cuter than the Swiss Valais Blacknose, leave us a comment.