A Moray farmer has brought in extra security measures to protect his herd of the “world’s cutest sheep”.
Raymond Irvine paid an estimated £55,000 for 11 Valais Blacknose sheep – a breed only found in Switzerland, where they are “worshipped” for their black faces, shaggy coats and spiral horns.
The 10 ewes and show-winning ram King Kong have now settled in to their new home near Tomintoul, but the animals – valued at £5,000 each – are so valuable Mr Irvine has installed CCTV and guard dogs to protect them.
And Mr Irvine and girlfriend Jenni McAllister were doubly delighted after one of the ewes gave birth to Scotland’s first baby Valais Blacknose just days after arriving.
The 42-year-old admitted he did not think the cute flock were real when he was first shown a picture, but decided to go to the Valais region of Switzerland with his girlfriend to investigate further.
He said: “My girlfriend showed me a picture and I laughed because I didn’t think they were real.
“Then we thought there could be something in this, so we decided to travel over and seem them in real life.
“We fell in love with them at first sight.”
And during their trip, the couple discovered it was not just them that found the sheep adorable – as they saw locals walking the sheep on leads around the village.
On another occasion, they were enjoying a romantic meal when two of the sheep were brought inside by a Swiss farmer who didn’t want to leave them outside.
The pair negotiated with several breeds to select individual sheep to buy, which proved difficult as the farmers did not want to part with their beloved animals.
Finally, the flock were transported on a lorry through customers to France, Dover and onto Scotland in 24 hours.
Mr Irvine, who hopes to increase the size of the flock, said: “It’s the first time this breed has ever been in Scotland. I think they are the world’s cutest sheep.
“They are so docile and they just make you smile as soon as you see them.
“They have become part of the family, we just love them.”