~ 181 ~ Journal of Entomology and Zoology Studies 2017; 5(1): 181-183 E-ISSN: 2320-7078 P-ISSN: 2349-6800 JEZS 2017; 5(1): 181-183 © 2017 JEZS Received: 25-11-2016 Accepted: 26-12-2016 Shabir Ahmed Department of Zoology, Hazara University Mansehra, Pakistan Habib Ahmad Department of Genetics, Hazara University Mansehra, Pakistan Muhammad Shahid Nadeem King Abdul Aziz University of Science & Technology, Jeddah Saudi Arabia Correspondence Shabir Ahmed Department of Zoology, Hazara University Mansehra, Pakistan First checklist and distribution of sheep breeds of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan Shabir Ahmed, Habib Ahmad and Muhammad Shahid Nadeem Abstract An extensive survey was carried out on the sheep breeds of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. A total of 487 samples of Sheep breed were collected and sorted out into 10 species viz: Kaghani, Rambouillet, Ramghani, Afghani, Gauder, Balkhi, Hashtnagri, Damani, Waziri and Australian. Out of which Australian and Ramghani showed its wide diversity in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and over all percentage of Australian was recorded significantly highest i-e: 13.75% followed 11.08% of Ramghani while significantly least percentage i-e: 8.41% and 8.62%, for Waziri and Rambouillet respectively. In addition to this, distribution and checklist of sheep breed in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is provided for the first time. Keywords: Breeds, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, diversity, checklist, samples 1. Introduction Domestication of livestock by man introduced a major cultural revolution. History of the domestication of sheep is reported as 7000 BC in the Near East [13] . Domestic sheep (Ovis aries) are quadrupedal, ruminant mammals typically kept as livestock. Archaeological evidence shows that the sheep was domesticated approximately 9000 year ago in the border region between Syria and Iraq [15] . Approximately 995 sheep breeds have been documented at global level, where Asia is harbouring 265 sheep breeds [5] . In Pakistan most of the short tailed sheep are reared in northern areas. The fat-tailed sheep are common in western part of the country including FATA and Balochistan. Depending upon the breed and selective pressure, sheep show range of height and weight. Typically, sheep weight between 45-100 Kg and with the larger rams between 45-160 Kg. A total of 33 native sheep breeds are reported in Pakistan of these seven (3 fat-tailed and 4 thin-tailed) are native to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP). The fat tailed breeds (Balkhi, Hashtnagri and Michni) are in the central and plain portion of the province. Balkhi, is however, scattered throughout the province, as well as in Punjab and Afghanistan [10] . Several authors [1-4, 6-9, 14, 16, 17] have carried out significant work on various aspects of the Sheep breeding from Indian subcontinent including Pakistan. But, unfortunately information available about these Sheep breed is untouched from this area. Hopefully, finding of present investigation will provide a firm basis for the future researchers to carry out research from this region. 2. Materials and Methods An extensive survey was carried out on the sheep breeds of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The sampling was done from different sites of Mansehra district including Kaghan, Naran, Jalkhad, Balakot and Guldheri during the year 2014-2016. The other sampling sites were D. I. Khan. Wana, Charsadda, Shabqadar, Mohmand Agency, Swat, Buner and other hilly areas of the province. Samples were identified by using methodologies of [1, 8] on the morphological basis. 3. Results and Discussion As a result of this work, a total of 487 samples of Sheep breed were sampled pertaining to 10 types of sheep’s breed were found from different localities of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa during the year 2014-2016. Following is checklist of species (Fig. 2): Kaghani, Rambouillet, Ramghani, Afghani, Gauder, Balkhi, Hashtnagri, Damani, Waziri and Australian. The sheeps are quadrupedal, ruminant mammal naturally reserved as livestock. Like all ruminants, sheep are members of the order Artiodactyla, the even-toed ungulates [7] . The domestic sheeps are multi-purpose animal, and the more than 200 breeds now in existence