Here's why a French school enrolled 15 sheep after checking their birth certificates

Fifteen sheep were signed up as latest recruits at a primary school in French Alps on Tuesday after parents feared falling pupil numbers would see some classes closed. 

move came after school in Crêts en Belledonne, a vill at foot of Alps, was told one of its 11 classes would be closed after numbers fell from 266 to 261. 

On Tuesday morning, a local herder and his dog came to school with some 50 sheep in tow, 15 of whom were "officially" registered after showing ir birth certificates. 

ded to register was a pupil called "Baa-bete" and ar called "Saute-Mouton" -- sheepish equivalent of 'leapfrog' -- in a comic ceremony watched by children, parents and teachers. 

"w we won't have to close any classes," smiled Gaelle Laval, one of parents behind initiative, who accused national education authority of being more concerned about numbers than about children's welfare. 

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Earlier, in a divided America where politics seems increasingly to get people's goat, a small town in Vermont has taken concept to heart -- this week electing one as mayor. He may be a political vice but goat's name, Lincoln, brings with it a storied pedigree.

And leing human official in Fair Haven -- population about 2,500 -- hopes long-eared, three-year-old animal's election can serve as a bit of a lesson in democracy.

In Tuesday's poll, Lincoln was victorious over 15 or candidates including Crystal gerbil and many dogs and cats.

Fair Haven has official mayor but Town Manr, Joseph Gunter, holds similar functions.

When Gunter re in a newspaper that vill of Omena, Michigan, h me Sweet Tart cat its "top" official, he got idea to organize a similar election to raise funds for building a playground.

Lincoln's 13 votes were eugh for him to squeak past Sammie dog.

goat, which belongs to a school math teacher, will get an education in town's major festivals which it will represent during its one-year mandate: "Memorial Day pare, Apple Fest and events we organize every Friday in summer," Gunter says.