Life span is 13 years. Enemies are meat-eating wild animals and dogs. Also, the kea parrot of New Zealand sinks its sharp bill into the sheep's back and eats its flesh and fat. Can bite off grass much closer to the ground than cattle can. Can live without water for long periods.
Sheep yield wool, meat and leather.
Also furnish raw materials for glue, tallow, suet, soap, fertilizer, cosmetics, and catgut used in stringing tennis rackets. The U.S. can produce nearly all the lamb and mutton it needs, but imports much wool. Supposed to have come originally from the lofty plateaus and mountains of Central Asia. The coarse hair of wild sheep was replaced by a soft coat of wool through breeding. They were also used as a beast of burden.