Vissana

Vissana

Conservation status	possibly extinct
Country of origin	Italy
Distribution	Marche, Tuscany, Umbria
Use	triple-purpose: meat, milk, wool
Traits
Weight	Male: 50–55 kg Female: 40–45 kg
Height	Male: 70 cm Female: 60 cm
Wool color	white
Face color	white, sometimes marked with brown or grey
Notes
triple-purpose, meat, milk and wool
Sheep Ovis aries

The Vissana is a breed of domestic sheep from the province of Macerata, in the Marche in central Italy.[1] It may be extinct.[2] It takes its name from the comune of Visso in the Monti Sibillini, and is or was raised mostly in that area, extending also into Umbria and Tuscany; herds under transhumant management formerly over-wintered in Lazio .[2] Cross-breeding with the Comisana, the Sarda and the Sopravissana may have contributed to a substantial decline in breed numbers which was noted in the 1980s.[2] The Vissana 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]

In 1983 the breed numbered about 1000. A total number for the breed has not been recorded in the herdbook for many years.[4] Numbers have not been reported to DAD-IS since 2000.[1]

References

1. Breed data sheet: Vissana/Italy. Domestic Animal Diversity Information System of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Accessed September 2013.
2. Daniele Bigi, Alessio Zanon (2008). Atlante delle razze autoctone: Bovini, equini, ovicaprini, suini allevati in Italia (in Italian). Milan: Edagricole. ISBN 9788850652594. pp. 304–305.
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. p. 82. Accessed September 2013.
4. Consistenze Provinciali della Razza R7 VISSANA Anno 2012 (in Italian). Associazione Nazionale della Pastorizia: Banca dati. Accessed September 2013.