Look closely.

 

In the first image, a ewe stands in a drought-stricken landscape with virtually no grass and very little browse. Her body tells the story of a hard season.

 

But look at the lamb.

 

Healthy.

 

Alert.

 

Thriving.

 

Johann Cloete of Fish River Damara Sheep in Namibia explained it simply:

 

The second photograph shows the same ewe.

 

The SAME ewe !!

 

Her name is Sokkies (because of her white legs). Fully recovered, and what is amazing is she’s an old 8-tooth ewe!

 

The same genetics.

 

The same determination.

 

Only now the season has changed and her condition has returned.

 

Together, these images reveal something remarkable.

 

When times were tough, Sokkies didn’t quit on her lamb.

 

She gave half of herself.

 

Every kilogram she lost helped keep that lamb growing.

 

Every reserve she carried was invested in the next generation.

 

That is maternal instinct.

Not measured in a laboratory.

Not written in a pedigree.

 

For centuries, Damara sheep have lived in environments where drought is not an exception – it is a fact of life. In those conditions, ewes that could successfully raise a lamb passed on their hardy genetics. Those that could not, were removed by the unforgiving hand of nature.

 

Generation after generation, the veld selected for exceptional mothers.

 

Mothers that could endure.

Mothers that could nurture.

Mothers that could raise lambs when conditions were at their worst.

 

Sokkies is not a champion ewe because of how she looks.

 

She is a champion because of what she did and continues to do.

 

Sometimes the true measure of an ewe is not the condition she carries.

 

It is the lamb standing beside her.

 

 

Observations Kindly Provided by — Johann Cloete, Fish River Damara Sheep, Namibia

 

Photographs © Johann Cloete & Tyron Hebach, Fish River Damara Sheep, Namibia. You can see more of Johann’s & Tyron’s sheep at Damara Sheep of Namibia or Kaokoland Damaras

Sokkies – Fish River Damara Sheep, Namibia