Question

Which of the following does not yield wool?
(a) Yak
(b) Camel
(c) Goat
(d) Woolly dog

Answer 1

Hint: Wool is an animal fibre that exists as a protective covering on hairy mammals. It is a soft fibre composed of keratin protein. It has been worn by humans since prehistoric times. The animal which does not yield wool is an extinct breed of white long haired.

Complete answer:
Woolly dogs do not yield wool. This animal is created by true animal husbandry. Wool is a form of hair and grows in a curly fashion on sheep. This waviness adds to its bulk and traps more air and heaviness than other natural fibres such as cotton and silk. This imparts insulating properties to the wool and keeps one warm in winters. Hairy mammals such as yak, camel and goat yield wool. This thick coat of skin or wool prevents the animals itself in colder climates. Air, a poor conductor of air, is trapped in wool. Thus, it prevents the loss of body heat to the surroundings

Additional Information: Following steps are followed in commercial extraction of wool from sheep:
-The fleece i.e the hair on an animal’s body along with a small section of skin is removed by a hair removal machine. This is known as shearing. The removal of skin doesn’t hurt the animal as it is a dead layer of skin. The hair or wool is removed once a year and usually in hot weather. They regrow by the time winter arrives.
-The fleece obtained is washed in big tanks thoroughly with water and soap to remove the dirt accumulated, any insects or any sweat. This process is called Scouring.
-After the scoured or washed fleece is dried, it is sorted according to its thickness or quality in factories. The quality of wool is not homogenous all over an animal’s body and thus needs to be separated into sections which are later mixed with the same quality obtained from some other sheep.
-The wool is dyed in different colours in this step of dyeing.
-The curly wool is straightened via a metal toothed comb. This process of combing through the entangled woollen fibres is known as combing. It also removes any unwanted fluffy fibres caught in between.
-The long woollen fibres are spun into a thick yarn while short woollen fibres are spun into a fine yarn. They are then woven into sweaters, shawls etc. The species of sheep are responsible for the type and quality of various yarns.
So, the correct answer is ‘ Woolly dog’.

Note: - The hairy skin of sheep has two types of fibres to form its fleece - one is found closer to its skin surface which is finer and softer than the second one which is towards the upper side and is coarser. The fine surface hair is used for wool making.
- Though the natural colour of the wool is creamy white, some varieties of goat and yak possess black coloured wool.
- Many varieties of wool are available in different parts of India such as Angora wool obtained from Angora goats reared in hilly areas of Jammu and Kashmir, yak wool from yaks in the cold dry habitat of Ladakh and carpet wool from Nali species of sheep in areas of Rajasthan, Punjab, Haryana.