The origins of the Cornella Bianca breed are unknown.[5] It has probably been influenced by the Garfagnina Bianca and Massese breeds from the Tuscan side of the Apennines, with which the transhumance would have brought it in contact.[4][6] It 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 Italian national association of sheep-breeders.[5]
The conservation status of the Cornella Bianca was listed as "critical" by the FAO in 2007.[1] In 2013 total numbers for the breed were reported to be 228.[7]
^Breed data sheet: Cornella Bianca. Domestic Animal Diversity Information System of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Accessed September 2013.
^ abDaniele Bigi, Alessio Zanon (2008). Atlante delle razze autoctone: Bovini, equini, ovicaprini, suini allevati in Italia (in Italian). Milan: Edagricole. ISBN9788850652594. p. 206–207.
^ abcdLe razze ovine e caprine in Italia (in Italian). Associazione Nazionale della Pastorizia: Ufficio centrale libri genealogici e registri anagrafici razze ovine e caprine. p. 53. Accessed September 2013.