By NANCY VORIS
Indiana Correspondent

INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. — The Tunis breed of sheep were placid during the hot and arid days at the Indiana State Fair. With its desert ancestry in Tunisia, on Africa’s northern coast, the breed is extremely heat-tolerant.

Tunis is one of the oldest breeds of sheep and is also known as the fat-tailed sheep referred to in the Bible. Their distinctive cinnamon-colored face, legs and drooping ears also earned them the name “redheads.”

Ten head of sheep were imported into the United States in 1799, a gift to the country from the Bey of Tunis. Only two rams survived the voyage and were placed with Judge Richard Peters of Belmont, Penn. They were bred with native ewes, making the Tunis one of the oldest breeds of livestock developed in America. The first crossbred lambs were born late that year.

Peters made the rams available for breeding and gave away lambs to spread the breed.

During the Civil War the Tunis were used for meat, which almost meant the extinction of the breed. “It had such a fine taste that soldiers from both sides wanted it,” said Dale Huhnke, Tunis sheep breed manager at the Indiana State Fair.

The flock of Col. M.R. Spigler of Columbia, S.C., was spared. New England shepherds discovered the breed and the Tunis population grew.

In 1894 the descendents of this flock were taken to Indiana, where some Southdown blood was introduced. Indiana now has the largest concentration of Tunis sheep in the U.S., followed by heavy populations in New England.

At one time, the American Livestock Breeds Conservancy (ALBC) listed the Tunis Sheep Breed as “threatened,” but that priority is now at “watch” status.

“This move reflects the excellent job Tunis breeders are doing promoting this American treasure,” said Don Schrider, communications director at the ALBC. “Tunis sheep now stand as an example of a rare American breed that is successfully growing in population and earning recognition for its outstanding production characteristics.”

The first organized Tunis association began in 1896 by breeders in Putnam County, Ind. For more information on Tunis sheep, go to www.tunissheep.org