ANIMAL HIGHLIGHT

The 4 Horned or Jacob sheep is a British breed of sheep. It combines two characteristics unusual in sheep: it is piebald dark-coloured with areas of white wool. It most commonly has four horns. The origin of the breed is not known; these sheep were present in England by the middle of the seventeenth century, and were widespread a century later. 

The Jacob was kept for centuries as a "park sheep", to ornament the large estates of landowners. While the origins of the Jacob are not known, It has been bred in the British Isles for several hundred years. 

Among the many accounts of ancient breeds of piebald sheep is the story of Jacob from theBook of Genesis. Jacob took every speckled and spotted sheep from his father-in-law's flock and bred them. Due to the resemblance to the animal described in Genesis, the Jacob sheep was named for the Biblical figure of Jacob sometime in the 20th century.

In 2009, a study investigated the history of sheep found the Jacob to be more closely linked to sheep from Africa and South-west Asia than to other British breeds.