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The Guardian - AU
The Guardian - AU
World
Tess McClure in Auckland

New Zealand’s ratio of sheep to humans at lowest point in 170 years

A sheep in New Zealand
The ratio of sheep to humans in New Zealand has dropped to its lowest level in recorded history. Photograph: Coolbiere Photograph/Getty Images

New Zealand’s ratio of sheep to people has dropped below five to one for the first time since national population records began in the late 1850s.

The vast ovine herds that outnumber human New Zealanders are a long-running joke outside the country; one of a few nuggets of information about New Zealand – alongside its links to The Lord of the Rings and Jacinda Ardern – that is know by the rest of the world.

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