It's not something I talk about much, but the preservation of rare livestock breeds is near to my heart, and our reason for choosing to keep Soay sheep in the first place was to have a preservation flock of breeding individuals. Soay are still in the at-risk category, with flocks being both few and far between.
Soay, undoubtedly like other breeds in the Priority and At Risk groups, are unusual sheep and have different behavior patterns and care requirements than more common breeds. For example, the woman who sold us our ewes did so because they fit very poorly in her more conventional shepherding system. That means that they, and others, need people like us to meet them where they are. Skittish and half-feral, unherdable, small, and primitive--but beautiful, hardy, independent, and fey. We'll be doing well if we ever manage to make our flock pay for itself--it's never made us a penny so far-- but we only ever love them more as time passes.