Sheep are an important commodity in Senegal, where more than half the population lives in the countryside and many city dwellers retain a close connection to their native villages. Sylvain Cherkaoui took his mobile studio to meet some of the proud owners who posed with their animals
Exhibited as part of Dak’Art 2022 Biennale Off at Pieds Tanqués in Dakar, Senegal
All photographs by Sylvain Cherkaoui/Panos Pictures
Main image: Assane Dieye, manager of the Menenek flock, shows a ram named Ballon d'Or. Photograph: Sylvain Cherkaoui/Panos Pictures
Wed 15 Jun 2022 06.00 BST
The ladoum sheep, a cross between Mauritanian touabir and Malian bali-bali varieties, has become an important part of Senegalese culture over the past 20 years of breeding Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
Madame Wane Fatou Binetou Diop and her brother Moustapha present Mapate Junior, a two-and-a-half-year-old ladoum ram Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
Habibou Diop presents Bideo Bou Bess, a 19-month-old ladoum ram from the Malle flock that is 1.12 metres tall and 1.7 metres long Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
Measuring up to 1.2 metres in height and weighing the equivalent of three grown men, the rams can fetch up to £70,000 in a country where 40% of the population lives on about £1.50 a day Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
Beauty pageants on TV rate ladoum sheep, offering substantial prize money. Senegal’s president, Macky Sall, is rumoured to own several of the animals Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
During the Muslim festival of Eid al-Adha, hundreds of thousands of sheep are slaughtered and eaten at family feasts, but fully grown ladoum are too valuable to be sacrificed. Criminals have cottoned on to the high value of these creatures and sheep theft is becoming an increasing worry for breeders and owners Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
Diallo the Younger, a 23-month-old ladoum ram, belongs to Ousseynou Thiaroye Fall, 29, who runs the Hann Thiaroye flock Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
NDakarou, a three-year-old ladoum ram from the Haram Sagna flock, with its breeder Pape Diop. He is the son of Minke, who at 1.2 metres was the tallest ladoum in Senegal Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
