Sheep have 'smart gene'

SYDNEY - Sheep are not renowned for their intellect, but an Australian researcher has proven they are smarter than most of us think.

And some are smarter than others, thanks to a specific "smart gene" that scientists believe will allow farmers to better select their livestock.

Dr Caroline Lee, of the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation, tested a group of 60 merinos by putting them through a complex maze.

She found the sheep not only worked out how to navigate the maze, but got better each time they did it.

"We actually showed sheep were smarter than people thought."

In the test, individual sheep were placed at the start of the maze, which measured 18m by 8m.

Dr Lee used the sheep's strong flocking instinct, largely blamed for their brainless reputation, to entice them through the test by placing their "flock mates" in sight at the end of the maze.

The test was done over three days and repeated after six weeks, with the time taken to complete it and the number of errors made recorded for each animal.

"We showed that sheep on average took two minutes on the first day, but got down to around 30 seconds on the third day.

"In addition, we actually measured them six weeks later ... and found that they had retained their memory and were at a similar level to the previous test."

To show this was the result of a thought process rather than instinct, some of the sheep were given a memory-impairing drug.

The drugged sheep performed worse then their drug-free flock mates, but overall, some sheep were just smarter than others, she said.

The CSIRO is screening 600 sheep of different breeds to determine whether they have a smart gene or genes, in a process that is expected to take up to five years to complete.

- AAP