Vianesa

Vianesa
Image from an information placard on the breed
Conservation status
  • FAO (2007): endangered-maintained[1]: 107 
  • DAD-IS (2023): at risk/endangered-maintained[2]
Country of originSpain
DistributionGalicia
StandardMinisterio de Agricultura, Pesca y Alimentación (page 12, in Spanish)
Usebeef[3]
Traits
Weight
  • Male:
    850 kg[4]
  • Female:
    560 kg[4]
Height
  • Male:
    138 cm[4]
  • Female:
    132 cm[4]
Coatdark chestnut brown, variable[4]
Horn statushorned
  • Cattle
  • Bos (primigenius) taurus

The Vianesa is a traditional Spanish breed of cattle originating in the autonomous community of Galicia in north-western Spain. It is named either for the municipality of Viana do Bolo in the province of Ourense in south-eastern Galicia, close to the border with northern Portugal, or for the comarca of Viana in which that municipality lies.[5]: 164 [6] With the Cachena, the Caldelana [es] or Caldelá, the Frieiresa [es] and the Limiana [es] or Limiá, it forms part of the grouping of dark brown cattle known as the Morena Galega or Morenas del Noroeste (roughly 'dark-browns of the north-west').[7]: 251 

It is an endangered breed: in 2023 it was listed in DAD-IS as 'at risk/endangered-maintained'.[2] The population in 2022 was just under 3000 head in 56 farms, almost all in Galicia; about 80 cattle were at a farm in Castilla y León.[8]

History

The Vianesa is a traditional breed of the autonomous community of Galicia in north-western Spain. It is named either for the municipality of Viana do Bolo in the province of Ourense in south-eastern Galicia, close to the border with northern Portugal, or for the comarca of Viana in which that municipality lies.[5]: 164 [6] With the Cachena, the Caldelana [es] or Caldelá, the Frieiresa [es] and the Limiana [es] or Limiá, it forms part of the grouping of dark brown cattle known as the Morena Galega or Morenas del Noroeste (roughly 'dark-browns of the north-west'), for which a conservation programme was launched by the Xunta de Galicia in 1990.[7]: 251 

In 2023 the conservation status of the breed was listed in DAD-IS as 'at risk/endangered-maintained'.[2] The population in 2022 was just under 3000 head in 56 farms, almost all of them in Galicia; about 80 head were at a farm in Castilla y León.[8]

Characteristics

The coat is dark brown in colour, and darker at the extremities; bulls are darker than cows. Some cattle have patches of different shades of brown; these are names for some of the patterns that these form. Heights at the withers average 132 cm for cows and 138 cm for bulls.[7]: 251  Average weights are variously given as 560 kg[2] or 593 kg for cows[7]: 251  and 850 kg[2] or 913 kg for bulls.[7]: 251 

Use

The cattle are reared for beef.[3]

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Vianesa.
  1. ^ Barbara Rischkowsky, Dafydd Pilling (editors) (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: Commission on Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. ISBN 9789251057629. Archived 23 June 2020.
  2. ^ a b c d e Breed data sheet: Vianesa / Spain (Cattle). Domestic Animal Diversity Information System of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Accessed October 2023.
  3. ^ a b Raza bovina Vianesa: Usos y sistema de explotación (in Spanish). Ministerio de Agricultura, Pesca y Alimentación. Accessed October 2023.
  4. ^ a b c d e Raza bovina Vianesa: Datos Morfológicos (in Spanish). Ministerio de Agricultura, Pesca y Alimentación. Accessed October 2023.
  5. ^ a b Raza bovina Vianesa: Datos Generales (in Spanish). Ministerio de Agricultura, Pesca y Alimentación. Accessed October 2023.
  6. ^ a b Miguel Fernández Rodríguez, Mariano Gómez Fernández, Juan Vicente Delgado Bermejo, Silvia Adán Belmonte, Miguel Jiménez Cabras (eds.) (2009). Guía de campo de las razas autóctonas españolas (in Spanish). Madrid: Ministerio de Medio Ambiente y Medio Rural y Marino. ISBN 9788449109461.
  7. ^ a b c d e 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.
  8. ^ a b Raza bovina Vianesa: Datos Censales (in Spanish). Ministerio de Agricultura, Pesca y Alimentación. Accessed October 2023.