Lamb Pelt

the skin of krimmer lambs slaughtered in the first days of life. The wool of breeds yielding lamb pelts has characteristic form, length, and luster and can be divided into two groups: astrakhan (from karakul lambs) and nonkarakul (from lambs of certain other breeds). Nonkarakul lamb pelts are less valuable than astrakhan. The best nonkarakul pelts obtained in the USSR are obtained from the Sokol’skii and Reshe-tilovskii sheep breeds. The highest-quality nonkarakul pelts produced outside the USSR are from Iran. Obtained from the Shiraz breed, they are more like astrakhan than any other nonkarakul pelts. Also of high quality is the skin from lambs of the Svakara breed, which is raised in Namibia; the skin, however, is considerably lower in quality than astrakhan. Less valuable are pelts from Ghilzai sheep (Afghanistan), Karaman sheep (Syria and Turkey), and sheep raised in the border regions of India and Pakistan. The lamb pelts from India and Pakistan are very similar to broadtail lamb.