Le mouton de Soay et son environnement sur l'île de Hirta (Archipel de St Kilda, Ecosse)

摘要

The survival of a primitive sheep breed (Ovis aries) in the St Kilda Islands, Outer Hebrides, Scotland, is due to a series of ecological and historical factors that have isolated men and their domestic animals on these Atlantic islands. The relationship between sheep and their natural environment (vegetation in particular) clearly illustrates their interdependence in a closed environment. High winter mortality remains the most appropriate natural response to the threat of overpopulation for a species capable of doubling in number in just three years. This little brown Soay sheep represents a special phase in the long relationship between man and domestic animals, particularly within the Scottish context, where cohabitation has .often been as indispensable as tragic.