North American, American, British, and American/British — What's in a Name?

We use these interrelated terms to describe the overall heritage of Soay Sheep in North America. We actually don't much like these labels. They are not particularly descriptive and they have become burdened by a lot of political baggage over the last several years. But the terms North American, American and British — particularly the latter — have been so widely used that we will retain them in the OFP, although not without first (re)defining them.

The Importations

In 1974, four Soay sheep were imported from the U.K. into Canada and came to rest at the Assiniboine Zoo in Winipeg. These four sheep are the "1974 importation" or the "Assiniboine flock."

In 1990, six Soay sheep were imported from the U.K. into Canada, this time landing in Athelstan, Quebec. These six sheep are the "1990 importation" or the "Athelstan flock."

A number of Soay-related webpages, internet discussion groups and newsletters consistently use the terms "American" or "North American" to mean any animal that is not one hundred per cent derived from the 1990 importation, or Athelstan flock. We do not use these two terms in the same way. In our view, the problem with lumping together all Soays who are not 100% derived from the second importation is that it makes no allowance for the great many sheep who have ancestors from both groups. We know that some breeders carefully track the percentage contribution of Athelstan-derived ancestors to their sheep, referring to it as "percent British." We have heard of others who breed only for the characteristics of sheep without any Athelstan ancestry, and so forth. In order to accommodate these varying breeding goals and also to be more precise, we use the terms "American" and "North American" in a more limited way and we introduce one new term to the Soay lexicon.

Ancestry Terms as Used by the OFP

• North American and American. The two terms have exactly the same meaning, and are used to describe a sheep whose Soay ancestry derives solely from the 1974 importation. Although the OFP continues to use the shorter "American" to include Canadian flocks, the alternate "North American" is of course more inclusive and more appropriate, considering that both importations were from the UK into Canada.
• British. Used to describe a Soay sheep descended exclusively from the 1990 importation.
• American/British. This is the new term we use to describe a Soay whose ancestors include animals of both types.

Issues Involved in Quantifying British and North American Ancestry

Many breeders have asked us to indicate in the pedigrees what percentage of each animal is derived from the 1974 importation and what percentage is derived from the 1990 importation. Because the pedigrees of the 1990 imports and their descendants are complete and they tie directly back to the U.K., with no introduction of other kinds of Soay or non-Soay sheep, it is possible to state what per cent of any Soay in North America is British, i.e. derived from the 1990 importation.

It is not possible, however, to state what percentage of any Soay in North America is derived from the 1974 importation. Breeding records simply do not exist, or are incomplete, for many years after 1974, making it impossible to determine what percentage of a North American or American Soay derives from the Soay imported in 1974 and what percentage, if any, derives from non-Soay sheep.

Here are a few examples:

• Atlas is 3/8 British. The remaining 5/8 has two components — the portion derived from Soay imported in 1974 and the portion, if any, of non-Soay sheep in Atlas' ancestry. Because the 5/8 non-British cannot be quantified as between Soay and non-Soay, the only quantitative statement about Atlas' heritage that can be made is how much of it comes from the 1990 importation, that is, his "fraction British."
• Warwick is 100% British, meaning all of his ancestors come from the 1990 importation and his pedigree traces back to the U.K.
• Troon is 100% American, meaning none of his ancestors come from the 1990 importation. His ancestors come from the 1974 importation and whatever non-Soay sheep, if any, his Soay ancestors were bred with. The proportion of his ancestry that is Soay-derived cannot be determined because of the lack of records.