New Zealand - Gisborne - Sheep from Tolago Bay on the Coast Road North of Gisborne - It is estimated that nearly 300,000 sheep will be transported this year from the East Coast to the Waikato. - 4/3/1936 - Unknown Photographer - Original Newspaper Clipping, published in the Weekly News #331325 - Sheep farming is a significant industry in New Zealand. According to 2007 figures reported by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations, there are 39 million sheep in the country (a count of about 10 per individual). The country has the highest density of sheep per unit area in the world. For 130 years, sheep farming was the country's most important agricultural industry, but it was overtaken by dairy farming in 1987. Sheep numbers peaked in New Zealand in 1982 to 70 million and then dropped to about 27.6 million. There are 16,000 sheep and beef farms in the country which has made the country the world's largest exporter of lambs, with 24 million finished lambs recorded every year. - Sheep were introduced into New Zealand between 1773 and 1777 with credit to James Cook, the British explorer. Samuel Marsden, a missionary, introduced some flocks of sheep to the Bay of Islands, and then also farmed in Mana Island close to Wellington for the purpose of feeding the whalers. The period between 1856 and 1987 was a bonanza period for sheep farming, resulting in economic prosperity of the country. (source - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sheep_farming_in_New_Zealand)