The Associazione Nazionale della Pastorizia, or roughly "national association of

pastoralists Pastoralism is a form of animal husbandry where domesticated animals (known as "livestock") are released onto large vegetated outdoor lands (pastures) for grazing, historically by nomadic people who moved around with their herds. The animal s ...

", is the Italian national body responsible for the administration of sheep- and goat-breeding. It maintains the herd books for more than a hundred indigenous breeds of

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 ...

and

goats The goat or domestic goat (''Capra hircus'') is a domesticated species of goat-antelope typically kept as livestock. It was domesticated from the wild goat (''C. aegagrus'') of Southwest Asia and Eastern Europe. The goat is a member of th ...

. It records breed numbers and submits them twice yearly to

DAD-IS DAD-IS is the acronym of the worldwide Domestic Animal Diversity Information System of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, within the FAO's management of animal genetic resources programme.Domestic Animal Diversity Infor ...

, and keeps records for all breeders of sheep and goats in the country.

Breeds

The association maintains genealogical herdbooks for seventeen principal breeds of sheep, of which eight – the Altamurana,

Comisana The Comisana, also known as Faccia Rossa and Lentinese, is an Italian list of sheep breeds, breed of domestic sheep indigenous to central and northern areas of the Mediterranean island of Sicily. Its name derives from that of the comune of Com ...

, Delle Langhe, Leccese, Massese,

Pinzirita The Pinzirita or Pinzunita is a breed of domestic sheep indigenous to the Mediterranean island of Sicily, Italy. Its name derives from ''pinzuni'', the Sicilian language name for the chaffinch, ''Fringilla coelebs'', which it is thought to r ...

, Sarda and Valle del Belice – are milk breeds, and nine – the

Appenninica The Appenninica is a modern breed of sheep from the central Apennine mountains of Italy. It is raised principally in Tuscany and Umbria, but also in Abruzzo, Emilia–Romagna, Lazio, the Marche and Campania. The breed was created in the 1970s ...

Barbaresca The Barbaresca or Barbaresca Siciliana is a breed of large fat-tailed sheep from the Mediterranean island of Sicily, in southern Italy. It derives from the cross-breeding between indigenous Sicilian Pinzirita sheep with fat-tailed Barbary (or ...

, Bergamasca, Biellese, Fabrianese,

Gentile di Puglia The Gentile di Puglia is a breed of domestic sheep indigenous to southern Italy. It originates from the Tavoliere di Foggia, a large plain in the northern part of Puglia, and is raised mainly in that region; a few are found in neighbouring reg ...

Laticauda Sea kraits are a genus of venomous elapid sea snakes (subfamily: Laticaudinae), ''Laticauda''. They are semiaquatic, and retain the wide ventral scales typical of terrestrial snakes for moving on land, but also have paddle-shaped tails for swimmi ...

, Merinizzata Italiana and Sopravissana - are meat breeds. It also maintains genealogical herd books for the eight principal

goat breeds The goat or domestic goat (''Capra hircus'') is a domesticated species of goat-antelope typically kept as livestock. It was domesticated from the wild goat (''C. aegagrus'') of Southwest Asia and Eastern Europe. The goat is a member of th ...

, the Camosciata delle Alpi or Chamois Coloured Goat, the Garganica, Girgentana, Jonica, Maltese, Orobica, Rossa Mediterranea,

Saanen Saanen (french: Gessenay; Highest Alemannic: ''Saanä'') is a municipality in the canton of Bern in Switzerland. It is the capital of the Obersimmental-Saanen administrative district. History The village was first mentioned in 1228 as ''Gi ...

and Sarda. A less stringent herd book is kept for forty-six indigenous sheep breeds and forty-three goat breeds of limited distribution.

Note

References

Agricultural organisations based in Italy {{Italy-org-stub