Is this the loneliest sheep in Britain? Drones are sent in to check on animal left stranded on a cliffside beach in the Scottish Highlands for TWO years

• Ewe is stranded on remote Scots beach for TWO years after stumbling down cliff 

They are naturally at home as part of a flock. But Scotland’s loneliest sheep has been marooned at the foot of a cliff in the ­Highlands for the past two years.

Jillian Turner spotted the animal in 2021 during a trip from ­Balintore to Nigg with the East Sutherland Canoe and Kayak Club. 

But recently she took the same trip again and noticed the sheep was still trapped on the small area of beach. Now drones have been sent in to check on the animal. 

Ms Turner, of Brora, Sutherland, said that when she first saw the sheep she assumed that it would manage to make its way up the rocky face. When the canoe club returned she was ­horrified to see that the animal was still there.

She said: ‘She called out on our approach and once again followed the group along the shore, jumping from rock to rock, calling to us the whole way.

The sheep, circled, looks over in the hopes of rescue and, above, shows off its impressive long fleece

The rugged shoreline where the sheep has been stranded for more than two years

A kayaker passes by the rocky shoreline where a sheep has been marooned

‘The poor ewe has been on her own for at least two years – for a flock animal that has to be torture, and she seemed desperate to make contact with us on the two occasions we’ve gone past her.

‘It is heart-rending. We honestly thought she might make her way back up that first year.

‘After the storm at the weekend I worry about whether she ­survived. With huge seas coming in and a deluge of water pouring down the gullies, it must have been ­traumatic for her if not fatal.’

The ewe’s fleece highlighted its time in isolation. Ms Turner said: ‘Her fleece on the first occasion was a normal year’s growth, ­however on the recent trip the fleece was huge and touching the ground at the back.’

The sheep is not the same breed as those belonging to ­farmers in the local area.

Ms Turner has appealed to anyone she could think of who might be able to help with a rescue, but so far she has drawn a blank.

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