Arabi is a domesticated breed of

fat-tailed sheep The fat-tailed sheep is a general type of domestic sheep known for their distinctive large tails and hindquarters. Fat-tailed sheep breeds comprise approximately 25% of the world's sheep population, and are commonly found in northern parts of Af ...

from southwestern Iran, southern Iraq and northeastern

Arabia The Arabian Peninsula (, , or , , ) or Arabia, is a peninsula in West Asia, situated north-east of Africa on the Arabian plate. At , comparable in size to India, the Arabian Peninsula is the largest peninsula in the world. Geographically, the ...

and Egypt. Though it does grow

wool Wool is the textile fiber obtained from sheep and other mammals, especially goats, rabbits, and camelids. The term may also refer to inorganic materials, such as mineral wool and glass wool, that have some properties similar to animal w ...

, it is primarily raised for

meat Meat is animal Tissue (biology), tissue, often muscle, that is eaten as food. Humans have hunted and farmed other animals for meat since prehistory. The Neolithic Revolution allowed the domestication of vertebrates, including chickens, sheep, ...

Characteristics

The Arabi rams have horns and the ewes are polled (hornless). This breed is the foundation stock for the Wooled Persian of

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

. It is highly likely that the Arabi is descended from very ancient importations from Arabia across the narrow Bal-el-Mandeb Straits at the mouth of the Red Sea. This breed has adapted to extreme temperatures and conditions. Within the foothills of Iraq, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, summer temperatures rise to and winter temperatures down to with less than rain. From 1990 to 2000, the population of the Arabi increased from 1.4 million to 1.5 million. The Arabi is usually white; however, black, brown and black-and-brown can occur. The wool has an average diameter of 26.2 micrometres. The average weight of mature rams is with an average height at the wither of . For mature ewes, their average weight is , at the withers and provides of wool per shearing. Birth weight for rams is about and ewes . On average, slightly more than one lamb is produced per litter.

References

Sheep breeds originating in Iraq Sheep breeds originating in Iran {{sheep-stub