National sheep flock a woolly one

by JULIET ROWAN

Sheep numbers are at their lowest in more than 20 years but New Zealand still has many more of them than some think.

Four million, 8 million and 16 million were popular guesses at the size of the national flock by people on the street in Auckland yesterday.

Only one man picked a figure higher than the actual total. Ian Marshall, a 20-year-old student, guessed 59 million. About 15 years ago, he would not have been far wrong. The flock peaked in 1982 - at 70.3 million. Now, the figure stands at 39 million.

The news that the flock has shrunk to its smallest since 1982 came yesterday in Statistics New Zealand figures.

The provisional figures from the 2004 Agricultural Production Survey showed a 1.7 per cent decline from last year.

Lambs marked or tailed decreased to 31.9 million for the year ended June, down from 33.4 million the previous year.

Melissa Meo, a 19-year-old shop manager from Remuera, thought New Zealand had 16 million sheep. "Four times the number of people," she said.

Ilhan Kecelioglu, a kebab shop owner on Queen St, guessed 14 million.

When told the real figure, he was shocked. "Forty million? Why is it still very expensive for me to buy mince?"

And despite New Zealand's reputation for being a country of sheep, tourists also vastly underestimated the size of the flock.

"I know it's a lot. Ten million," said Melanie Gewecke, 31, of Germany.

The dairy cattle herd, meanwhile, grew by 122,000 to 5.2 million.