Moorschnucke im Wildfreigehege Bend Grevenbroich 02 b

The White Polled Heath (german: Weiße Hornlose Heidschnucke, also known in Germany as the ''Moorschnucke'') is a small breed and landrace of North German sheep and belongs to the ''

Heidschnucke The Heidschnucke is a group of three types of moorland sheep from northern Germany. Like a number of other types from Scandinavia and Great Britain, they are Northern European short-tailed sheep. The three breeds of Heidschnucke (in order of popu ...

'' family, part of the

Northern European short-tailed sheep The Northern European short-tailed sheep are a group of traditional sheep breeds or types found in Northern Europe, mainly in the British Isles, Scandinavia, Greenland and the area around the Baltic. They are thought to be derived from the fir ...

group. However, unlike the other ''

'' types, it is entirely white and polled (hornless).

Origin

The White Polled Heath originated from the moorlands or bogs of Lower Saxony in North Germany where it has been kept for centuries. It was probably bred by crossing a hornless, plain-wool (''schlichtwolligen'') landrace with a population of grey, horned ''Heidschnucke'', the German Grey Heath.''Moorschnucke (Diepholzer)''
at slowfood.de. Retrieved 7 Oct 2020. In 1922 the white hornless ''Heidschnucke'' was separated from the horned variety and was then called the ''Moorschnucke'' or White Polled Heath.

Range

The White Polled Heath is mainly reared on raised bog regions and dry grasslands in North and Central Germany. Today the White Polled Heath is bred chiefly in the Diepholz moor depression. Its original range was the districts of Diepholz, Nienburg and

Rotenburg Rotenburg may refer to: *Rotenburg (district), Lower Saxony, Germany *Rotenburg an der Wümme, capital of the district *Rotenburg an der Fulda, near Kassel in Hesse *Rothenburg ob der Tauber, in the Franconia region of Bavaria *Hersfeld-Rotenburg, ...

.''Sheep Breeds V-Z - White Polled Heath''
at www.sheep101.info. Retrieved on 21 June 2010. The ''Diepholz Moorschnucke'' is protected as a regional breed and was registered in European Union's list of products with a

Protected Designation of Origin The protected designation of origin (PDO) is a type of geographical indication of the European Union and the United Kingdom aimed at preserving the designations of origin of food-related products. The designation was created in 1992 and its main ...

(PDO).

Diet

Moorschnucken im Wildfreigehege Bend Grevenbroich 01

The White Polled Heath eats wild plants such as

purple moor grass ''Molinia caerulea'', known by the common name purple moor-grass, is a species of grass that is native to Europe, west Asia, and north Africa. It grows in locations from the lowlands up to in the Alps. Like most grasses, it grows best in acid so ...

, sedge,

sorrel Sorrel (''Rumex acetosa''), also called common sorrel or garden sorrel, is a perennial herbaceous plant in the family Polygonaceae. Other names for sorrel include spinach dock and narrow-leaved dock ('dock' being a common name for the genus '' ...

, fungi,

mosses Mosses are small, non-vascular flowerless plants in the taxonomic division Bryophyta (, ) ''sensu stricto''. Bryophyta (''sensu lato'', Schimp. 1879) may also refer to the parent group bryophytes, which comprise liverworts, mosses, and horn ...

lichen A lichen ( , ) is a composite organism that arises from algae or cyanobacteria living among filaments of multiple fungi species in a mutualistic relationship.herbaceous plants such as common heather, bell heather,

cross-leaved heath ''Erica tetralix'', the cross-leaved heath, is a species of flowering plant in the family Ericaceae, native to western Europe, from southern Portugal to central Norway, as well as a number of boggy regions further from the coast in Central Europe ...

crowberry ''Empetrum nigrum'', crowberry, black crowberry, or, in western Alaska, blackberry, is a flowering plant species in the heather family Ericaceae with a near circumboreal distribution in the Northern Hemisphere. It is usually dioecious, but there ...

, cranberry,

bog bilberry ''Vaccinium uliginosum'' (bog bilberry, bog blueberry, northern bilberry or western blueberry) is a Eurasian and North American flowering plant in the genus ''Vaccinium'' within the heath family. Distribution ''Vaccinium uliginosum'' is native ...

, bilberry, pine and birch.

Characteristics

The White Polled Heath is well-suited to life on the moors and is even able, for example, to get itself out of bog holes. It is very hardy and can even walk through knee-high water. It is best suited to nature reserves, conservation areas and grazing of bogs and wet areas. Its meat is considered a delicacy, and is leaner and darker than that of other breeds of sheep. As a result of extensive rearing and feeding the meat retains a spicy, gamey flavour.

Description

The White Polled Heath is a white, dual-coated, graceful landrace with a small frame. Both sexes are hornless with an elongated head and ears that lie at an angle. The bone structure is light and delicate, the hoofs are light-coloured and very hard. The tail is naturally short.

Endangered status

The White Polled Heath is on the list of endangered domestic breeds - and is a "breed under observation" (BEO) according to the red list of the Animal Genetic Resource Consultancy (''Fachbeirat Tiergenetische Ressourcen'') and is in category III on the red list of the

Gesellschaft zur Erhaltung alter und gefährdeter Haustierrassen The or GEH is a German national association for the conservation of historic and endangered domestic animal breeds. History The GEH was founded on 5 December 1981 in the Rottal, in Lower Bavaria in southern Germany. It has about 2100 memb ...

. The rearing of meat sheep breeds and reduced grazing of the moors have contributed to the White Polled Heath dying out almost entirely. Through the combined efforts of nature conservationists, the BUND and breeders since 1974 the numbers of White Polled Heath sheep have risen to about 5,000 animals.

References

{{Reflist

External links

Moorschnucke.deCentral Documents for Animal Genetic Resources in Germany (German)
Sheep breeds Lüneburg Heath Sheep breeds originating in Germany