Kazakh Arkhar-Merino

a breed of fine-wooled sheep raised for meat and wool, developed in the Kazakh SSR between 1934 and 1950. This is the only breed of sheep that has been produced by interspecies hybridization. New Caucasian Merino ewes were fertilized with semen from a slaughtered wild Arkhar (Pamir argali). The first-generation male crossbreeds were crossed with Precoce and Rambouillet ewes, and the third-generation crossbreeds were interbred. Kazakh Arkhar-Merinos are large, hardy, strongly built, and well proportioned. They are well adapted to mountain conditions, grazing in high-altitude pastures and moving easily over rugged terrain. Rams weigh 90–115 kg, and ewes 55–65 kg. The wool clip from rams is 7–8 kg, and from ewes 3.2–3.5 kg. The wool is mostly of the 64th grade and 7–10 cm long. The yield of pure wool is 50–55 percent. The productivity rate is 110–120 lambs per 100 ewes bred. Kazakh Arkhar-Merinos are used for crossbreeding with coarse-wooled sheep. They are raised in the Alma-Ata, Vostochnyi Kazakhstan, and Pavlodar oblasts.