Israel, and that "Jacob Sheep are related to Jacob the same as the American Indians are related to India". The Jacob was referred to as the "Spanish sheep" for much of its early recorded history. It has been bred in England for at least 350 years, and spotted sheep were widespread in England by the mid–18th century. The British landed gentry used Jacob as ornamental sheep on their estates and kept importing the sheep which probably kept the breed extant. A breed society, the Jacob Sheep Society, was formed in July 1969. Mary Cavendish, dowager Duchess of Devonshire, who had a flock of Jacob sheep at Chatsworth House in Derbyshire, was the first president of the society. From 1972 onwards, the society published a flock book. Jacobs were first exported to North America in the early 20th century. Some individuals acquired them from zoos in the 1960s and 1970s, but the breed remained rare in America until the 1980s; registration began in 1985. The first North American association for the breed, the Jacob Sheep Breeders Association, was established in 1989. The Jacob was introduced to Israel in 2016, when a small flock of about 120 head was shipped there from Canada by a couple who believed the breed is the same one mentioned in Genesis. Conservation status In 2012 the total Jacob population in the UK was reported to the DAD-IS database of the FAO as 5638, of which 2349 were registered breeding ewes. In 2017, the Rare Breeds Survival Trust listed the Jacob in Category 6 ("Other UK Native Breeds") of its watchlist, in which categories 1–5 are for various degrees of conservation risk, and category 6 is for breeds which have more than 3000 breeding females registered in the herd-book. Small numbers of Jacobs are reported from four other countries: the Czech Republic, Germany, the Netherlands and the United States, with conservation status in those countries ranging from critical to endangered-maintained. Characteristics The Jacob is a small, multi-horned, piebald sheep that resembles a goat in its conformation. However, it is not the only breed that can produce polycerate or piebald offspring. Other polycerate breeds include the Hebridean, Icelandic, Manx Loaghtan, and the Navajo-Churro, and other piebald breeds include the Finnsheep, Shetland Sheep and the West African Dwarf. Mature rams (males) weigh about , while ewes (females) weigh about . The body frame is long, with a straight back