BACK

(362) D'Man

1. General breed information

Species:	Sheep
Breed Name/Strain :	D'Man
Common Name/Synonym:	Damana; Demnan; Demmane; Demane; Tafilalet
Breed Group Name:	Thin-tailed Hair sheep
Group Origin:
It appears that true sheep never existed in Africa in a wild state; all domesticated types of sheep now found in Africa must have been derived from imported stock from western Asia. The centre of origin of the common parent stock of the screw-horned, hairy, thin-tailed sheep of ancient Mesopotamia and Egypt was in western Asia (the 'Fertile Crescent', which extends from Palestine northwards through Lebanon, across southern Turkey, and then southwards through the foothills of the Zagros mountains which straddle the Iran-Iraq border), and that the domestication of sheep was completed by 7000BC. The hairy thin-tailed type arrived in Africa in numerous waves through the Isthmus of Suez and Bab el Mandeb. Until the third Millennium BC., the hairy, thin-tailed sheep was the only type of sheep on the African continent. Domestic sheep had reached Egypt and other parts of North Africa by 5000BC (Epstein, 1971).
Breed Origin :
Origin is unclear yet, but it appears to have evolved in isolation in the oases of southern Morocco and south Algaria with some genetic influences from the Thin-tailed hair sheep of sub-Saharn Africa and the thin-tailed coarse wool sheep of north Africa, especially the Berber of the Maghreb (Devendra and McLeroy, 1982). The name D'Man comes from the general black colour of the breed, although animals can be black, brown, white, or variegated (Guessous et al., 1989).
Main Location:
This breed inhabits the oases of southern Morocco and the Wadi Saorua Valley of south Algeria in the Sahel. Particularly in Morocco, it is found south of the high Atls in the valleys of Draa (south-west), Ziz (south-east), and Dads (between the two regions) (Guessous et al., 1989).
Special Characteristic:
This breed is prolific and reproduces all year round in both Morocco and Algeria. It is known for its hardiness in harsh environments and survives well under Sahelian conditions. It has lopped ears and fine tail; the coat colour can be plain black, brown, white or pied (Mason, 1996).