The Sayaguesa is an endangered Spanish

breed A breed is a specific group of breedable 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 seve ...

of domestic cattle. It is named for the

comarca A ''comarca'' (, , , ) is a traditional region or local administrative division found in Portugal, Spain, and some of their former colonies, like Brazil, Nicaragua, and Panama. The term is derived from the term ''marca'', meaning a "march, mark ...

of Sayago in the

province A province is an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman , which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire, Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...

of Zamora, in the western part of the

autonomous community The autonomous communities () are the first-level administrative divisions of Spain, created in accordance with the Spanish Constitution of 1978, with the aim of guaranteeing limited autonomy to the nationalities and regions that make up Sp ...

Castilla y León Castile, Castille or Castilla may refer to: Places Spain * Castile (historical region), a vaguely defined historical region of Spain covering most of Castile and León, all of the Community of Madrid and most of Castilla–La Mancha * Kingdom o ...

, and is raised almost exclusively in that area. It may also be known as the Zamorana, the Moles de Sayago or the Castellana variedad Sayaguesa. It was traditionally kept mainly for draught work, but is now raised principally for meat.

History

The Sayaguesa was traditionally kept mainly for draught work; with the mechanisation of agriculture following the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, this use declined. In the 1960s there were successive attempts to improve productive qualities by

cross-breeding A crossbreed is an organism with purebred parents of two different breeds, varieties, or populations. A domestic animal of unknown ancestry, where the breed status of only one parent or grandparent is known, may also be called a crossbreed though ...

with Friesian,

Braunvieh The ''Braunvieh'' (, "brown cattle") or Swiss Brown is a breed or group of breeds of domestic cattle originating in Switzerland and distributed throughout the Alpine region. It falls within the "Brown Mountain" group of cattle breeds. The Swiss ...

and Charolais, and later with other breeds. From 1970 the Sayaguesa was included with other regional breeds under the denomination Morenas del Noroeste. In 1997 it achieved separate recognition among the breeds identified by the

Ministerio de Agricultura, Alimentación y Medio Ambiente The Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (, MAPA), is the Spanish government departments, department of the Government of Spain responsible for proposing and carrying out the government policy on Agricultural resources, agricultural, live ...

, the Spanish ministry of agriculture, as "at risk of extinction". Registration of the Sayaguesa began in 1980, and in 1981 a

breeders' association Breed clubs are associations or clubs with activities centered on a single, specific breed of a particular species of domesticated animal. The purpose of the association will vary with the species of animal and the goals and needs of the members ...

, the Asociación Española de Criadores de Ganado Bovino de Raza Sayaguesa, was formed. In 1998 a genealogical

herd-book A breed registry, also known as a herdbook, studbook or register, in animal husbandry, the hobby of animal fancy, is an official list of animals within a specific breed whose parents are known. Animals are usually registered by their breeders wh ...

was established. Between 1950 and 1981 the population of the Sayaguesa fell by about a quarter, or some head. By 2009 only about 450 head remained, on 29 farms. At the end of 2015 the population was , of which almost all were in

Characteristics

The Sayaguesa is one of the largest indigenous Spanish cattle breeds. It displays considerable

sexual dimorphism Sexual dimorphism is the condition where sexes of the same species exhibit different Morphology (biology), morphological characteristics, including characteristics not directly involved in reproduction. The condition occurs in most dioecy, di ...

: bulls may weigh up to and cows up to . The height at the

withers Withers are the ridge between the shoulder blades of an animal, typically a quadruped. In many species, this ridge is the tallest point of the body. In horses and dogs, it is the standard place to measure the animal's height. In contrast, catt ...

averages for bulls and for cows. The coat is black, sometimes lighter on the underparts. There may be a paler dorsal stripe, often absent in cows. The inside of the ears and the area round the mouth are pale. The hooves, muzzle and natural openings are black, the horns are white at the base and tipped with black. The head is relatively small, with a concave profile. Calves are born red, and only later turn black. The Sayaguesa is hardy, robust and frugal, and well adapted to the poor pastures and harsh environment of its native area.

Use

The Sayaguesa was traditionally kept mainly for draught work; with the mechanisation of agriculture following the

, this use declined, and breeding was directed towards meat production. Calves are slaughtered at an average age of 12 months; yield is approximately 55%. Pairs of cows may sometimes be

yoke A yoke is a wooden beam used between a pair of oxen or other animals to enable them to pull together on a load when working in pairs, as oxen usually do; some yokes are fitted to individual animals. There are several types of yoke, used in dif ...

d to carts for folklore or festival occasions. The Sayaguesa has been used in

nature conservation Nature conservation is the ethic/moral philosophy and conservation movement focused on protecting species from extinction, maintaining and restoring habitats, enhancing ecosystem services, and protecting biological diversity. A range of values ...

and in attempts to re-create the extinct

aurochs The aurochs (''Bos primigenius''; or ; pl.: aurochs or aurochsen) is an extinct species of Bovini, bovine, considered to be the wild ancestor of modern domestic cattle. With a shoulder height of up to in bulls and in cows, it was one of t ...

References

Cattle breeds originating in Spain Province of Zamora {{bots, deny=Citation bot