Cornigliese

Cornigliese

Conservation status	FAO (2007): endangered[1]: 68
Other names	Corniglio[2] Borgotarese[3]: 54  Mucca di Corniglio[3]: 54
Country of origin	Italy
Distribution	Emilia–Romagna
Standard	MIPAAF
Use	triple-purpose, milk, meat and wool
Traits
Weight	Male: 100 kg[4] Female: 75 kg[4]
Height	Male: 85 cm[4] Female: 75 cm[4]
Wool colour	white, sometimes spotted
Face colour	spotted or mottled
Sheep Ovis aries

The Cornigliese or Corniglio is an Italian breed of domestic sheep from the Apennines of the province of Parma, in Emilia–Romagna in central Italy.[2] It takes its name from the mountain town of Corniglio in that province; it may also be called Borgotarese after the town of Borgo Val di Taro which is about 40 km to the west.[3]: 54  It is raised in the provinces of Bologna, Ferrara, Modena, Parma, Ravenna and Reggio Emilia.[5]: 208–209 

History

The Cornigliese breed was created in the mid-eighteenth century by the Borboni of Parma by crossing the local Vissana breed[6]: 789  with Spanish merinos to improve the quality of the wool, at that time the most important attribute of sheep.[3]: 54  In the early twentieth century, the weight was increased by intromission of Bergamasca blood.[2][5]: 208–209  The Cornigliese 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.[3]: 54 

The conservation status of the Cornigliese was listed as "endangered" by the FAO in 2007.[1] Between 2000 and 2014 total numbers recorded for the breed fell steadily from 2179 to 1369.[7][8]

References

1. Barbara Rischkowsky, D. Pilling (eds.) (2007). List of breeds documented in the Global Databank for Animal Genetic Resources, annex to The State of the World's Animal Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture. Rome: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. ISBN 9789251057629. Accessed May 2014.
2. Breed data sheet: Corniglio/Italy. Domestic Animal Diversity Information System of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Accessed September 2013.
3. Le razze ovine e caprine in Italia (in Italian). Associazione Nazionale della Pastorizia: Ufficio centrale libri genealogici e registri anagrafici razze ovine e caprine. Accessed September 2013.
4. Norme tecniche della popolazione ovina “Cornigliese (Corniglio)”: standard della razza (in Italian). Ministero delle Politiche Agricole, Alimentari e Forestali. Accessed May 2014.
5. Daniele Bigi, Alessio Zanon (2008). Atlante delle razze autoctone: Bovini, equini, ovicaprini, suini allevati in Italia (in Italian). Milan: Edagricole. ISBN 9788850652594. pp. 208–209.
6. Valerie Porter, Lawrence Alderson, Stephen J.G. Hall, D. Phillip Sponenberg (2016). Mason's World Encyclopedia of Livestock Breeds and Breeding (sixth edition). Wallingford: CABI. ISBN 9781780647944.
7. Consistenze Provinciali della Razza 72 Corniglio Anno 2000 (in Italian). Associazione Nazionale della Pastorizia: Banca dati. Accessed June 2015.
8. Consistenze Provinciali della Razza 72 Corniglio Anno 2014 (in Italian). Associazione Nazionale della Pastorizia: Banca dati. Accessed June 2015.