Soay rams victim of own success

8 February 2001



Soay rams victim of own success

By FWi staff

DOMINANT rams on a remote Scottish archipelago can become victims of their own success, according to new research.

While aggressive rams on St Kilda may attract more ewes, by the end of the rutting season they have all but exhausted their sperm supplies.

When this happens they lose out in the fatherhood stakes to rams lower down the pecking order.

This was uncovered by research teams from the University of Stirling and the University of Edinburgh, reports The Daily Telegraph.

Scientists have been studying the primitive Soay sheep breed, which dates back to the Bronze Age and has lived on St Kilda for 1000 years.

The team found that, towards the end of the breeding season, larger rams sire no more lambs than smaller males which mate less frequently.

• Do big, randy rams run out?, FARMERS WEEKLY, 23 April, 1999
  
• The Daily Telegraph 8 February, 2001 page 11