The objective of current thesis is to draw a picture of the current situation of the Åland sheep ram lines. The research was commissioned by Åland Sheep Association (Föreningen Ålandsfåret r.f.). The research was carried out at the right moment, since all the ram lines are still available and it is still possible to take measures in order to maintain the rare ones.

In landraces, breeding aims at maintaining genetic variation. Small size of the population and the increase of the coefficient of relatedness pose threats to the breeds. The initial situation of the Åland sheep is rather good, since there are still enough separate lineages. This thesis aims at providing information about the ram lines that Åland sheep breeders could use for their advantage in breeding and in maintaining genetic variation.

The information about living rams was collected from the sheep registry of the Finnish Food Safety Authority Evira. The Åland Sheep Association’s database was used for collecting information about the lines of descent. There are altogether 9 separate Åland sheep ram lines. At the time of the current research, these lines included altogether 98 living rams, the largest one containing 28 rams and the smallest one containing only 3. The ram - ewe ratio is 1 to 10 which is excellent.

All the ram lines were published on our website that is open to public. With these and his or her own knowledge about lineages, breeders are able to track their animals’ ram lines. This information is useful for tracking individual animals’ lines of descent when selling or buying rams. The website information is updated by volunteers and the ram owners are welcome to provide information about the breeding rams in their possession.