Britain’s ‘loneliest sheep’ Fiona, rescued after spending two years at the bottom of a cliff near Sutherland, is put on a strict diet to prepare her for motherhood
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Britain’s formerly loneliest sheep is set to become a mum!
But first she needs to lose some weight for her own good and to look her best when she is put to ram.
Fiona the ewe arrived at Dalscone Farm in Dumfries in November after being rescued by specialist climbing teams from a shore near Sutherland.
She somehow survived for over two years alone on a beach at the foot of an isolated cliff on the Cromarty Firth. She now has company too - currently another ewe and a couple of lambs.
But today Ben Best, the manager of Dalscone Farm, said she was still too overweight - and part of the plan was for her to become a mum.
Fiona arrived weighing around 91 kilos and was now 92-93 kilos, said Mr Best.
"She needs to be around 85 kilos. She has been struggling with a sore leg, which is either historic or genetic. Her weight does not help. Ideally we would like to see her lose one-and-a-half stones. She is too chubby," he said.
"Also by having lambs she will burn up a lot of calories producing the milk etc.
"It will also ensure the continuation of the bloodline of such a famous sheep. We have not yet chosen the ram - the 'perfect man' for her.
"Her leg is an issue as is her weight. We are trying to do the best we can for her - it's really difficult to find a solution - but her organs are under considerable pressure with that weight. Having lambs would help, we believe."
Mr Best said Fiona would be put to ram later this year.
Though she was otherwise in good condition, she was also "lazy" which did not help her lose weight.
Fiona has been put on a diet of no sheep cake or hay. She is just eating grass.
Mr Best added that Fiona had almost certainly never been a mother before.
"When she was rescued she had been on her own for all those years and she would have been too young to have had lambs before she went over the cliff," he said.
"Not surprisingly she likes her own company. She will never be part of a huge flock."
When Fiona was rescued, a JustGiving page raised more than four times its initial target of £2500 from hundreds of supporters.
Donations came from as far away as Australia, the USA and Canada among other places.
The cash from Fiona's Fund was split between Scottish agricultural charity, Royal Scottish Agricultural Benevolent Institution (RSABI) and the Scottish SPCA.
The three-year-old ewe has a new look after her overgrown fleece was trimmed with hand shearers and sent to an expert knitter.
Aberdeenshire-based Wooldale Wool is crafting items from the fleece that will go on sale to support RSABI and Scottish SPCA.
After spending two years stranded near Balintore, Easter Ross, Fiona is now an internet star.
The farm's social media channels and webcam had topped three million hits in the first days after she arrived.
Rescuers used a winch mounted on a truck parked at the top of the cliff, 200m of rope and a feed bag fashioned into a makeshift sling in what was described as an 'epic' mission.
Two of the men stayed at the top to operate the winch while three others were lowered 250m down the steep descent where they found Fiona in a cave and guided her up the rock face.
She was also surprisingly overweight.
The farmer on whose land Fiona was trapped had made previous attempts to retrieve her but was unable to do so without putting himself or his employees in danger.
Jill Turner, from Brora, Sutherland, who highlighted Fiona's plight first came across the ewe while kayaking in 2021.
She was shocked to discover she was still there two years later, and pleaded for someone to rescue her.
She said she was "very emotional" over her rescue.
Even a hovercraft operator offered to help.
A petition calling for a rescue operation gathered more than 55,000 signatures.
