Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
FAO, the American Livestock Breeds Conservancy (ALBC), and the Canadian
Rare Breeds Conservancy estimate that worldwide 30 percent of all domestic
animal breeds are at risk for extinction and that as many as 6 breeds are lost
each month.
The problem isn't limited to other areas of the world. In North America,
24 sheep breeds are considered at risk for extinction, whereas just 4 breeds
account for more than two-thirds of the total sheep population. The Suffolk
breed alone accounts for about 50 percent of the purebred North American
sheep population.
The development of any new breed is slow, even with modern technology
— which includes frozen embryos, frozen semen, ovum transfers, and com-
puterized record keeping — combined with vigorous selection and extensive
culling. Within the past several decades, new breeds have been developed,
such as the Booroola, the California Red, and the Cormo.
Composite
is a term
often used for new breeds during development, indicating that they are being
bred from a mixture of other, older breeds. It takes years for a composite to
develop the genetic integrity of the breeds that have been around for a long
time, though undoubtedly some will.
Breeds that were uncommon in North America but have been bred in other
areas of the world for long periods are now being imported. For example, the
Perendale was fi rst imported from New Zealand in 1977, the Romanovs were
imported from Russia to Canada in the 1980s, and the Dorpers and Icelandic
sheep were brought into the United States in the 1990s.
Rare and Heritage Breeds
The breeds that have fallen out of favor with high-input, industrialized agri-
culture are referred to as rare, heritage, or minor breeds.
Many of these were major breeds just a generation or two ago. For instance,
in 1900 there were 71,000 registered Cotswolds; at the turn of this century,
there were fewer than 1,000.
Some heritage breeds are now getting attention, and for a few, their num-
bers are actually improving. For example, the Jacob sheep, which was once an
endangered species, is making a comeback. There were no Jacobs registered
in the 1970s and early 1980s. In 1986 ALBC helped start a registry with 100
Jacobs; in the last several years, there have been over 500 new registrations
annually. The Cotswolds have also seen a similar comeback, with over 500
new registrations per year.
