Adal
Adal sheep, often linked with the Afar or Danakil sheep of northeastern Ethiopia and neighboring drylands, are hardy lowland hair sheep kept by pastoral and agropastoral communities. They are small to medium-sized, typically fat-tailed, and selected more for survival, walking ability, and lamb production under arid range conditions than for wool. Coat color varies by flock, including white, brown, black, and pied animals, and local naming may overlap with nearby Ethiopian and Horn of Africa sheep types.
Management centers on mobility: herders move flocks between seasonal grazing, water points, and crop residues when available. The breed's value is in heat tolerance, sparse-feed use, and market lamb or mutton production, but drought, parasites around wet seasons, and loss of grazing corridors can quickly affect flock health. Conservation and development work with Adal sheep usually depends on supporting pastoral breeding practices rather than replacing them with less adapted imported genetics.
