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 ...
from the
province of Macerata
The province of Macerata ( it, provincia di Macerata) is a province in the Marche region of Italy. Its capital is the city of Macerata. The province includes 55 comunes (Italian: ''comuni'') in the province, see Comunes of the Province of Mace ...
, in the Marche in central Italy. It may be extinct. It takes its name from the
comune
The (; plural: ) is a local administrative division of Italy, roughly equivalent to a township or municipality. It is the third-level administrative division of Italy, after regions ('' regioni'') and provinces (''province''). The can also ...
of
Visso
Visso is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Macerata in the Italian region Marche, located about southwest of Ancona and about southwest of Macerata. It houses the seat of Monti Sibillini National Park.
Main sights
* San Giacomo c ...
in the Monti Sibillini, and is or was raised mostly in that area, extending also into
transhumant
Transhumance is a type of pastoralism or nomadism, a seasonal movement of livestock between fixed summer and winter pastures. In montane regions (''vertical transhumance''), it implies movement between higher pastures in summer and lower val ...
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 ...
, the Sarda and the Sopravissana may have contributed to a substantial decline in breed numbers which was noted in the 1980s. The Vissana is one of the forty-two autochthonous local sheep breeds of limited distribution for which a 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 1983 the breed numbered about 1000. A total number for the breed has not been recorded in the herdbook for many years. Numbers have not been reported 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 ...