Italian Mediterranean buffalo

The Italian Mediterranean Buffalo (Italian: Bufala Mediterranea Italiana) is an Italian breed of water buffalo.[1] It is of the River sub-type of water buffalo and is similar to the buffalo breeds of Hungary, Romania and the Balkan countries. It is the only indigenous water buffalo breed in Italy.[2] A herd-book was opened in 1980, and the breed was officially recognised in 2000.

Italian Mediterranean Buffalo

Buffalo in the Agro Pontino
Conservation status	Not at risk
Other names	Bufala Mediterranea Italiana
Country of origin	Italy
Distribution	throughout Italy, principally Campania
Type	River
Use	Dairy, meat; formerly draught
Traits
Weight	Male: average 500–600 kg up to 800 kg Female: average 300–450 kg up to 650 kg
Height	Male: average 143 cm Female: average 135 cm
Coat	skin dark slate-grey; hair black
Water buffalo Bubalus bubalis

History

There are conflicting theories concerning the origins of the European water buffalo: one, based on fossil bones found in the valleys of the Elbe and the Rhine, is that it descends from an extinct European wild species; others believe that water buffalo were brought to Europe in the sixth and seventh centuries by invading peoples such as the Pannonian Avars, or later, by crusaders returning from Mesopotamia.[3]^:967 Detailed studies of the DNA of European buffalo have not been made.[3]^:967

The buffalo may have been introduced into Italy in Roman times, or during the Barbarian invasions of the Italian peninsula.[2]

In 1979 a national association of buffalo breeders, the Associazione Nazionale Allevatori Specie Bufalina, was formed, and a genealogical herd-book for the buffalo was opened in the following year.[2] The Mediterranea Italiana breed was officially recognised in 2000.[4]

Use

In the past the buffalo was widely used as a draught animal. Buffalo also kept waterways and drainage channels clear of weed, swimming in the deeper parts and wading in the shallows.[5]

The Mediterranea Italiana is now raised and selectively bred principally for the production of the buffalo milk used to make buffalo mozzarella, notably the Mozzarella di Bufala Campana of Campania, which has Denominazione di origine protetta (DOP) status.[2] Other dairy products including burrata, caciotta di bufala, ricotta di bufala, scamorza di bufala, stracchino di bufala, stracciatella di bufala and yoghurt are also made from the milk. Lactation lasts on average 277 days, and usually yields 1600–1800 kg of milk; yields of 2000–3000 kg per lactation are not uncommon. In 2012 a total of 192,455,300 kg of buffalo milk was produced in Italy, about 1.7% of total milk production in that year;[6] the fat content was an average of 7.92%.[7]

Buffalo are butchered both for fresh meat and for preserved meat products such as bresaola di bufalo.[2] In 2012 a total of 118,653 buffalo were slaughtered in Italy, for a total live weight of 47,416,700 kg, approximately 2.7% of the total weight of bovines slaughtered that year. The average carcass yield was 50.6%.[8]

Population

In 1953 the total number of buffalo in Italy was estimated at 40,000 head.[2] The numbers of buffalo reported by the Istituto Nazionale di Statistica in 2012[9] and 2013[10] were, by region:

Region	2012	2013
Basilicata	626	430
Calabria	778	271
Campania	260,153	266,236
Emilia–Romagna	158	409
Friuli–Venezia Giulia	80	39
Lazio	66,546	69,244
Lombardy	3,394	3,542
Marche	–	49,709
Molise	1,912	745
Piedmont	795	49
Puglia	7,470	5,999
Sardinia	5,139	2,507
Sicily	768	2,454
Trentino–Alto Adige	8	–
Tuscany	110	48
Umbria	29	20
Veneto	895	957
Total	348,861	402,659

See also

• List of Italian DOP cheeses

References

1. Breed data sheet: Bufala mediterranea italiana. 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. p. 92–95.
3. 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.
4. Home (in Italian). Associazione nazionale allevatori specie bufalina. Accessed February 2014.
5. Un animale straordinario: Passato (in Italian). Consorzio di Tutela della Mozzarella di Bufala Campana. Accessed February 2014.
6. Tavola L02 - Latte raccolto presso le aziende agricole dall'industria lattiero-casearia per tipo (quantità in quintali) . Dettaglio per ripartizione geografica - Anno 2012 (in Italian). Istituto Nazionale di Statistica. Accessed February 2014.
7. Tavola L04 - Quantità di latte e crema a disposizione dell' industria lattiero-casearia, per specie animale (quantità in quintali) - Anno 2012 (in Italian). Istituto Nazionale di Statistica. Accessed February 2014.
8. Tavola AMR13 - Bestiame macellato a carni rosse - (Gennaio - Dicembre) - Anno 2012 (in Italian). Istituto Nazionale di Statistica. Accessed February 2014.
9. Tavola B01B - Consistenza del bestiame bovino e bufalino al 1° dicembre. Bovini di 2 anni e più, bufalini e totali (numero di capi). Dettaglio per regione - Anno 2012 (in Italian). Istituto Nazionale di Statistica. Accessed February 2014.
10. Tavola B01B - Consistenza del bestiame bovino e bufalino al 1° dicembre. Bovini di 2 anni e più, bufalini e totali (numero di capi). Dettaglio per regione - Anno 2013 (in Italian). Istituto Nazionale di Statistica. Accessed July 2014.