The Florida Cracker or Florida Scrub is an American

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 ...

of cattle which originated in

Spanish Florida Spanish Florida ( es, La Florida) was the first major European land claim and attempted settlement in North America during the European Age of Discovery. ''La Florida'' formed part of the Captaincy General of Cuba, the Viceroyalty of New Spain, ...

and later in the American state of Florida. It is named for the Florida cracker culture in which it was kept. It is one of the Criollo breeds that descend from the Spanish cattle originally brought to the Americas by the Spanish Conquistadors; among the other North American breeds in this group are the Pineywoods, the Corriente and Texas Longhorn. Unlike the Pineywoods – to which it is closely related – the Florida Cracker has not been inter-bred with breeds of North European origin.

History

The Florida Cracker, like other Criollo cattle, derives from cattle brought by the Conquistadores from Spain to the Americas from 1493 onwards; these numbered no more than 300 head in all, and were brought to

Hispaniola Hispaniola (, also ; es, La Española; Latin and french: Hispaniola; ht, Ispayola; tnq, Ayiti or Quisqueya) is an island in the Caribbean that is part of the Greater Antilles. Hispaniola is the most populous island in the West Indies, and th ...

and other Caribbean islands. Cattle from Cuba were landed in

in 1565, and there was another shipment from the same source in 1640. By the beginning of the eighteenth century the total number of cattle in the Spanish part of what is now the United States – Florida and parts of modern Alabama, Georgia and Mississippi – was estimated at between and head. These were triple-purpose cattle, reared for meat, for milk and for draft work. They were managed extensively, living in semi-feral conditions for much of the time. After 1949 the combination of new laws about free-roaming livestock and the introduction of larger beef breeds led to the rapid decline of the Florida Cracker. Despite the continued work of the Florida state government and a breed association, the breed is still listed as "critical" by The Livestock Conservancy, and is listed on Ark of Taste of the

Slow Food Foundation Slow Food is an organization that promotes local food and traditional cooking. It was founded by Carlo Petrini in Italy in 1986 and has since spread worldwide. Promoted as an alternative to fast food, it strives to preserve traditional and reg ...

. In 2018 it was named the official state heritage cattle breed.

Characteristics

Florida Cracker cows are one of the oldest and rarest breeds of cattle in United States. Descended from Spanish stock imported to the continent in the sixteenth century, Florida Crackers cows are a small, horned breed that quickly adapted to the Florida landscape and have long been prized for their resistance to parasites and other hardy traits. They weigh generally under 900 pounds (400 kg), come in many colors, and both males and females are horned.

References

Cattle breeds originating in the United States Cattle breeds Cattle landraces Conservation Priority Breeds of the Livestock Conservancy Florida cracker culture Symbols of Florida {{cattle-stub