The Altamurana is a

breed A breed is a specific group of domestic animals having homogeneous appearance (phenotype), homogeneous behavior, and/or other characteristics that distinguish it from other organisms of the same species. In literature, there exist several slig ...

sheep Sheep or domestic sheep (''Ovis aries'') are domesticated, ruminant mammals typically kept as livestock. Although the term ''sheep'' can apply to other species in the genus ''Ovis'', in everyday usage it almost always refers to domesticated s ...

from the

province of Bari The Province of Bari ( it, provincia di Bari, nap, pruvincia 'e Bari, nap, label= Barese, provinge de Bare) was a province in the region of Apulia, Italy. Its capital was the city of Bari. It has an area of , and a total population of 1,594,10 ...

, in

Puglia it, Pugliese , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demographic ...

in southern Italy. It takes its name from the town of

Altamura Altamura (, ; nap, label= Barese, Ialtamùre) is a town and ''comune'' of Apulia, in southern Italy. It is located on one of the hills of the Murge plateau in the Metropolitan City of Bari, southwest of Bari, close to the border with Basilic ...

, in the

Murge The Altopiano delle Murge (Italian for "Murge plateau") is a karst topographic plateau of rectangular shape in southern Italy. Most of it lies within Apulia and corresponds with the sub-region known as Murgia or Le Murge. The plateau lies mainl ...

. It is of Asiatic, possibly Syrian, origin. It is raised mainly in the

provinces A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman ''provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions outsi ...

of Bari and

Foggia Foggia (, , ; nap, label= Foggiano, Fògge ) is a city and former ''comune'' of Apulia, in Southern Italy, capital of the province of Foggia. In 2013, its population was 153,143. Foggia is the main city of a plain called Tavoliere, also known ...

. It was formerly considered a triple-purpose breed, yielding meat, milk, and wool; it is now kept principally for milk production. It yields approximately 65 kg of milk per lactation, with on average 7.5% fat and 6.5% protein. The Altamurana is one of the seventeen

autochthonous Autochthon, autochthons or autochthonous may refer to: Fiction * Autochthon (Atlantis), a character in Plato's myth of Atlantis * Autochthons, characters in the novel ''The Divine Invasion'' by Philip K. Dick * Autochthon, a Primordial in the ' ...

Italian sheep breeds for which a genealogical herdbook is kept by the

Associazione Nazionale della Pastorizia The Associazione Nazionale della Pastorizia, or roughly "national association of pastoralists", is the Italian national body responsible for the administration of sheep- and goat-breeding. It maintains the herd books for more than a hundred in ...

, the Italian national association of sheep-breeders. In 1984 the breed population was estimated at 190,000 head. In 2012 the total number recorded for the breed was 230; it is considered to be at risk of extinction.

References

Sheep breeds originating in Italy Altamura Ark of Taste foods {{Sheep-stub

See also

References