Pocket Guide to Sheep Breeds of New Zealand

Home of more than 40 million sheep (over 10 per person), New Zealand is a major global exporter of sheep products: annual wool exports alone are worth well over $800m. Added to that, there is a rapidly growing interest from small businesses and lifestylers in specialist breeds and yarns. Sheep are also a major drawcard for overseas visitors. All of which popular demand adds up to good reason for publishing a Pocket Guide to Sheep Breeds of New Zealand, along with its companion volume, the Pocket Guide to Cattle Breeds of New Zealand. Originally published in large format several years ago by Reed, both books have been brought thoroughly up to date, with new pictures throughout and extended and updated text.

Table of Contents

Contents include: Section One: a comprehensive introduction outlining the history of sheep farming in New Zealand, as well as insights into the wool and meat industry -- Section Two: exploring sheep anatomy and behaviour -- Section Three: information on all breeds. Each breed is described in full (physical characteristics, behaviour, breeding habits, height and weight) along with an insight into its origin. Two to four photographs identify each breed.

Author Biography

Animals are Graham Meadows' life. He trained in England and New Zealand as a vet, in which capacity he worked for several years at Auckland Zoo, instigating a training course and developing captive breeding programmes. He then embarked on a career in media, presenting two series for Television New Zealand and writing a newspaper column for a decade. He has co-authored more than 60 books for children as well as several titles for adults. Today, working out of west Auckland, he runs the Graham Meadows Picture Library, a collection of more than 80,000 images focusing on natural history.