Conservation status | FAO (2007): critical-maintained[1] |
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Country of origin | Italy |
Distribution | Garfagnana, Tuscany |
Standard | MIPAAF |
Use | dual-purpose, milk and meat |
Traits | |
Weight | |
Height | |
Wool color | white |
Face color | white |
Horn status | horned in both sexes |
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The Garfagnina Bianca is a breed of small domestic sheep from the historic area of the Garfagnana, the mountainous northern part of the province of Lucca, in Tuscany in central Italy.[3][4] It shares common origins with the Cornella Bianca, Massese and Zerasca.[5][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.[6]
Breed numbers declined drastically in the second half of the twentieth century. In 1961 there were more than 50,000, distributed over much of central Italy; a census in 1983 identified fewer than 50 pure-bred specimens. In 2013 total numbers for the breed were 356.[7]