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Shahabadi sheep represent an important but uninvestigated source of genetic diversity. Eighteen microsatellite markers were employed to analyze the genetic diversity of Shahabadi sheep population found in Bihar, India within fifty samples. Microsatellites were highly polymorphic with a mean allelic number 5.56 ± 1.79. The observed heterozygosity, expected heterozygosity and observed and effective number of alleles were used to estimate the genetic variation of this breed. The observed heterozygosity in the population varied from 0.279–0.739 with the mean of 0.501 ± 0.151, reflecting substantial genetic variation in this population. Population was observed to be heterozygote deficient (21.5%). The results of this study indicated that conservation of genetic variation in Shahabadi population should be considered by breeders, in the interest of long term future of the breed in its native tract. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]