The Bovec ( sl, bovška ovca, italic=no, it, Plezzana, italic=no, german: Krainer Steinschaf, italic=no) is a breed of domestic

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 upper valley of the

Soča The Soča ( in Slovene) or Isonzo ( in Italian; other names fur, Lusinç, german: Sontig, la, Aesontius or ') is a long river that flows through western Slovenia () and northeastern Italy (). An Alpine river in character, its source lies i ...

or Isonzo river, now in

Slovenia Slovenia ( ; sl, Slovenija ), officially the Republic of Slovenia (Slovene: , abbr.: ''RS''), is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the southeast, an ...

. The breed is named in both Slovenian and in Italian for the town of

Bovec Bovec ( or ; , german: Flitsch, fur, Plèz) is a town in the Littoral region in northwestern Slovenia, close to the border with Italy. It is the central settlement of the Municipality of Bovec. Geography Bovec is located from the capital Ljubl ...

or Plezzo; in the Trenta valley it may also be called Trentarka. It is raised in the Soča valley in Slovenia, in the areas of Resia and

Tarvisio Tarvisio (German and fur, Tarvis, sl, Trbiž) is a comune in the northeastern part of the autonomous Friuli Venezia Giulia region in Italy. Geography The town is in the Canal Valley (''Val Canale'') between the Carnic Alps and Karawanks rang ...

Friuli Friuli ( fur, Friûl, sl, Furlanija, german: Friaul) is an area of Northeast Italy with its own particular cultural and historical identity containing 1,000,000 Friulians. It comprises the major part of the autonomous region Friuli Venezia Giuli ...

in Italy, and in Styria and Carinthia in Austria. The breed is raised for

milk Milk is a white liquid food produced by the mammary glands of mammals. It is the primary source of nutrition for young mammals (including breastfed human infants) before they are able to digest solid food. Immune factors and immune-modula ...

and for meat.

Characteristics

The Bovec may be whitish, or in about 30% of cases, black or brown. They have small ears, short, thin legs, and their belly is bare. The back legs are inclined forward so that they can walk on steep meadows easily. Height of rams is and ewes at the withers. A breeding ewe provides approximately 1.23 lambs per litter, lactates for 210 days and in that time yields of milk with 6.3% fat.

Numbers

In 2012 a population in Slovenia of 3500 was 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 ...

. Other sources estimate the number of pure-bred examples there at 1200. The Krainer Steinschaf population in Austria was reported to be in the range 2719–4000 in 2012. The Plezzana 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 2013 the herdbook was empty. The population in Italy is estimated at 40–50 head.

References

{{Sheep breeds of Italy Sheep breeds originating in Slovenia Sheep breeds originating in Italy