Boreray Blackface

Boreray Blackface
A ram
Rams on Orkney
Conservation status
  • FAO (2007): critical-maintained
  • RBST (2025): at risk
  • DAD-IS (2025): at risk/endangered
Other names
  • Boreray
  • Hebridean Blackface
Country of originScotland
DistributionBoreray, St Kilda
Use
  • conservation grazing
  • meat
  • wool
Traits
Weight
  • Male:
    45 kg
  • Female:
    30 kg
Height
  • Male:
    55 cm
  • Female:
    55 cm
Horn statushorned in both sexes

The Boreray Blackface, also Hebridean Blackface or Boreray, is a rare Scottish breed of sheep originating on the St Kilda archipelago off the west coast of Scotland and surviving as a feral animal on one of the islands, Boreray. It was once reared for meat and wool, but is now used mainly for conservation grazing. It falls within the Northern European short-tailed group of breeds.

It is an endangered breed, and in 2025 was classified by the Rare Breeds Survival Trust as "priority", the second level of concern of the trust. It is one of eight rare British breeds registered in the Combined Flock Book, a herd-book established in 1974; the others are the Castlemilk Moorit, the Manx Loaghtan, the Norfolk Horn, the North Ronaldsay, the Portland, the Soay and the Whitefaced Woodland.