# Geep in Chania Crete



## vencino1 (Jan 13, 2014)

When I was in the US Navy, I was stationed in Chania, Crete for a short time. I was amazed and awed by the herds of geep with their shepherds trying to move them along. I never could get a clear photo. I am including a link from another military member: 
http://candiceannie.blogspot.com/2008/01/geep.html
and 
http://miyake-san.com/exploration/kissamos/

I was told repeatedly these were a cross between sheep and goats. I wondered if the "lamb" I had eaten there was really geep because lamb here is nothing like it is there. Now that I have property, I wanted to see if I could get some. 
But in the US geep are only produced in the lab and don't seem to survive long.
Are these different animals? Are the ones in crete geep? Just...huh?!?


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## goathiker (Apr 14, 2011)

I suspect there ay have been a miscommunication somewhere along the line. There are very few documented cases of goat/sheep hybrids ever surviving to birth outside a lab.

I have a theory on what possibly is the truth though. Chania has a wild mountain animal that resembles a hair sheep. It is unique to the Island and very ancient. It is however a type of goat called Kri Kri. I suspect that the domestic herds have bred with this wild goat and the miscommunication came from there.


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## happybleats (Sep 12, 2010)

I agree with goathiker...

if you want to raise good meat sheep, try the hair sheep, Barbado or Dorper...We raise the cross of the two and it is the best lamb Ive ever tasted!! I do not care for woly sheep


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## Stacykins (Mar 27, 2012)

Sheep-goat *chimeras* exist, while a sheep-goat *hybrid* usually results in a still birth. Sheep have 54 chromosomes, and a goat 60, so it just doesn't work out when the two hybridize.

A sheep-goat chimera actually has four parents. They are produced in a lab when a goat embryo is joined with a sheep embryo.

Because they are made in a laboratory, I doubt there are massive herds of them anywhere. Even if they are fertile, they only pass on sheep genetics or goat genetics, not both mixed in one egg or sperm.

So yea, I tend to agree that there was a failure of communication. Some hair sheep look much like goats, and some fiber goats look a bit like a sheep.


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## vencino1 (Jan 13, 2014)

I looked into the wild goats and sheep in the area, this is totally different. And the Kri Kri isn't even similar in looks.
I'll look into the hair sheep for meat, thanks!
The geep had large goat like heads with necks bare of hair. The body is covered in a long hair and the legs are bare. The heads are real popular in the meat market. Most of the close ups I found were of them skinned at the market. I've read several place that say the animal is over running the island. I saw many groups with from 15-25 of these animals.
I asked more then one herder and was told they a goat sheep cross. But no one seemed to understand my questions of their creation.


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## ksalvagno (Oct 6, 2009)

I still suspect it was probably a cross of wild and domestic goats. I just don't see how there could be herds of them. Who knows, maybe some secretly imported a fiber goat and it went from there.


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## goathiker (Apr 14, 2011)

Here is a Kri Kri mix. I see were the goats in the OP get their long hair


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## ArborGoats (Jan 24, 2013)

Did it look anything like these guys?









I "borrowed" this picture from: http://www.trekearth.com/gallery/Europe/Greece/Crete/Hania/photo821947.htm


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## ArborGoats (Jan 24, 2013)

http://www.west-crete.com/fauna.htm

Here's a link with more long haired goats with short hair on their necks and legs as well.


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## ptgoats45 (Nov 28, 2011)

The ones in the OP's links look like goats to me. Upright tails, goat like ears and faces, long hair like the one goathiker posted, goat horns. I would also say there was some miscommunication there.


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## Darlaj (Dec 10, 2013)

Look close at the pic with a lot of animals ... Some have sheep heads


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## KW Farms (Jun 21, 2008)

The links you provided include photos of goats, not sheep, not geeps. Geeps are very rare. And once a geep is produced, it cannot reproduce. It would be pretty much impossible to produce huge herds of geeps. There are many different breeds of goats and sheep and many people can get them confused with one another. There are sheep that can look like goats and goats that can look sheep like.


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## CritterCarnival (Sep 18, 2013)

All I see in the op's pictures are just plain goats and just plain sheep. 

It is extremely unlikely that there are herds of Geep roaming the hills for the simple fact that they must be created in a lab, and once created, are unable to reproduce. 

They are very striking goats though, I would love to have some to tinker with breeding them.


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## CritterCarnival (Sep 18, 2013)

Darlaj said:


> Look close at the pic with a lot of animals ... Some have sheep heads


That would be because some of those animals _are_ sheep.


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## Darlaj (Dec 10, 2013)

Well I did not mean to upset for cryin in the night geeze relax ..... Sorry for making a mistake


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## KW Farms (Jun 21, 2008)

I don't think you upset anyone.  Kat was just pointing out that there are sheep in there.


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## CritterCarnival (Sep 18, 2013)

Darlaj said:


> Well I did not mean to upset for cryin in the night geeze relax ..... Sorry for making a mistake


I'm sorry, I didn't mean it that way...I was just trying to be funny. 

I'll go crawl back under my rock again...


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## vencino1 (Jan 13, 2014)

I give up for today. But I'll pick it up another day.
In Souda Bay, Crete, we have a navy base. They stage regular 10K run along a course called "Geep Trail" re: 
http://www.mapmyrun.com/gr/souda-crete/
Also: the tails curl up, the lip does not appear to be split, no beard, some have horns and some don't, the horns curl around to under the ears, rear was same height as shoulders, also, horns are not wide at the base.
I think I'll try to contact someone out at the base to see if I can find out more.


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## Darlaj (Dec 10, 2013)

CritterCarnival said:


> I'm sorry, I didn't mean it that way...I was just trying to be funny.
> 
> I'll go crawl back under my rock again...


Oops srry bout bein hagish!  hard day feelin sensitive


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## kccjer (Jan 27, 2012)

I agree with everyone that Geep cannot live. Having lived overseas and visited several different cultures, I can honestly say that what we THINK something means is NOT what it means to everyone. My English friend and I often argue over what things are suppose to be called. hehehe I'm guessing that this is a case of our not understanding what these people are calling sheep and goats. I've often heard the terms "mountain goat" and "mountain sheep" used interchangeably even tho they are NOT the same animals. Here is a link that has some info http://www.bighorn.org/biology.html If you scroll to the bottom of that page it talks about how people confuse the 2.

Vencino...the methods of cooking vary greatly and make a huge difference in how things taste. That, coupled with different feeds will affect how lamb tasted in Greece compared to here. For example....a deer taken from the Mountains where they had browse will taste vastly different from a deer taken out here on the high plains getting corn as a regular feed....even if they are cooked exactly the same at the same time, the taste will be different.


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## Wild Hearts Ranch (Dec 26, 2011)

One page mentions that visitors tend to confuse the sheep and goats because their sheep don't look like the typical domestic sheep in other parts of the world. Is it possible that the natives were trying to say the herds are a mix of sheep and goats, and someone who couldn't tell the difference got confused?


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## Darlaj (Dec 10, 2013)

Oooooh hey now that makes sence!!!


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