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Shepherds travelling in Chambal, India Shepherd with grazing sheep in Făgăraș Mountains, Romania. A shepherd is a person who tends, herds, feeds, or guards flocks of sheep. Shepherding is one of the world's oldest occupations; it exists in many parts of the globe, and it is an important part of pastoralist animal husbandry.
Prey animals, sheep, goats, pigs and cattle, were progressively domesticated early in the history of agriculture. [3] Pigs were domesticated in the Near East between 8,500 and 8000 BC, [4] sheep and goats in or near the Fertile Crescent about 8,500 BC, [5] and cattle from wild aurochs in the areas of modern Turkey and Pakistan around 8,500 BC. [6]
Domestication of sheep and goats began in the 8–7th millennium BC. Originally this process began in Western Asia , on the territory of modern Iran and Iraq . Shepherding was a difficult task: primitive herders did not have horses and moved their cattle for grazing on foot as horses and donkeys were not yet fully domesticated and obedient enough.
Sheep and goats are closely related: both are in the subfamily Caprinae. However, they are separate species, so hybrids rarely occur and are always infertile. A hybrid of a ewe and a buck (a male goat) is called a sheep-goat hybrid, known as geep. Visual differences between sheep and goats include the beard of goats and divided upper lip of sheep.
Livestock guardian dogs specialise in protection of small farm animals, mainly sheep. Unlike herds of cattle or horses, which are able to withstand even large predators on their own, herds of sheep and goats need the protection that LGDs are designed to provide. In large farms, sheep are managed mainly by using the distant-pasture method.
Sheep shearers, Flanders, from the Grimani Breviary c. 1510 "Valach" from Brumov in Moravian Wallachia, 1787.Shepherding was a traditional occupation of Romanians, and as they colonised the northern Carpathian range and eventually assimilated, their exonym "Valach" became synonymous with "shepherd".
This imagery often draws parallels to the Christian faith, where the lamb is a sacred symbol of Christ's sacrifice and redemption. However, lamb (or sheep) tattoos are not limited to that one meaning.
Sheep and goats are closely related: both are in the subfamily Caprinae. However, they are separate species, so hybrids rarely occur and are always infertile. A hybrid of a ewe and a buck is called a sheep-goat hybrid. Visual differences between sheep and goats include the beard of goats and the divided upper lip of sheep.