It is nevertheless considered important to preserve because of the insight it may give into American history and the traits it has that modern sheep might lack such as its toughness, foraging skill, efficient use of food, and easy lambing.

[3][8] The sheep that colonists would have been using at the time would have been the contemporary English breeds, but Merinos were known to roam the barrier islands, having swum ashore from Spanish ships that wrecked along the coast.

In 1933 a hurricane destroyed most of the island; the inhabitants abandoned the settled areas and many sheep were left to fend for themselves, reverting to a feral state.

[3] The breed is extremely rare today; with fewer than 200 registered animals it is listed as "critical" by The Livestock Conservancy.

[1][3][10] The United States Department of Agriculture's National Animal Germplasm Program has collected semen samples from several of the sheep as part of a program that aims to preserve the genetic material of animals significant to American history.