Pirenaica

The Pirenaica, Basque: Behi-gorri, is a breed of beef cattle indigenous to the Pyrenees of north-eastern Spain. It is distributed mainly in the autonomous communities of Navarre and the Basque Country, but is present in much of the northern part of the country. It is well adapted to the mountainous terrain and humid climate of the area. It came close to extinction in twentieth century, but is not now at risk.

Pirenaica
Pirenaica cows near Ezcároz in Navarre
Conservation statusFAO (2007): not at risk[1]:106
Other namesBasque: Behi-gorri[2]
Country of originSpain
Distributionnorthern Catalonia
StandardConfederación de Asociaciones de Ganado Vacuno Pirenaico (in Spanish)
UseMainly meat
Traits
Weight
  • Male:
    800 kg[3]
  • Female:
    525 kg[3]
Height
  • Male:
    150 cm[3]
  • Female:
    132 cm[3]
Coatwheaten
Horn statushorned
  • Cattle
  • Bos (primigenius) taurus
Pirenaica cows at pasture in the comarca of Baztán in Navarre

History

The origins of the Pirenaica are uncertain. In the past it was the predominant cattle breed of northern Spain. A herd book was opened in Gipuzkoa in 1905, the first of its kind in Spain;[4]:136[5]:388 in 1925 a herd book was opened in Navarre also.[4]:136 However, from about the turn of the twentieth century, large-scale importation of Braunvieh cattle from Switzerland began to threaten the breed; while at first these were pure-bred, they soon began to be cross-bred with the Pirenaica to improve meat and milk yield. In 1912 a census of cattle in Gipuzkoa found about 50,000 head, of which less than 40% were pure-bred Pirenaica stock; the remainder were Braunvieh and Braunvieh-Pirenaica crosses, in roughly equal proportions.[5]:388 In 1954 there were 18,000 head,[6]:114 but by the 1970s the Pirenaica was close to extinction.[4]:135[5]:390 In 1974 it had disappeared from the Basque Country, with the exception of about 40 head in Gipuzkoa;[7][8] in Navarre about 1500 head remained, of which about 1000 were in the valley of Aezkoa.[5]:390

In the 1970s the Diputación Foral of Navarre began a programme of recovery of the Pirenaica breed. A number of regional breeders' associations were set up; a national federation of these breeders' associations, the Confederación de Asociaciones de Ganado Vacuno Pirenaico, was formed in 1988. At the end of 2014 the total population was recorded as 40,026, of which 34,806 were female and 5,220 were male.[2][9] Of these, about 50% were in Navarre and 25% in the Basque Country; there were substantial populations in Aragón, Cantabria and Castilla León, and smaller numbers in Catalonia, the Comunitat Valenciana, Extremadura, La Rioja, Madrid and the Principado de Asturias.

The Pirenaica is classified among the "autochthonous breeds in development" by the Ministerio de Agricultura, Alimentación y Medio Ambiente, the Spanish ministry of agriculture, and thus not at risk of extinction.[10]

Use and management

The Pirenaica was formerly a triple-purpose breed, used as a draught animal and for milk and meat production.[4]:136 While breeding selection is now wholly towards meat production, Pirenaica oxen may sometimes be used in the traditional rural sport of arrastre de piedra, or stone-dragging.[11]

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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 January 2016.
  2. Breed data sheet: Pirenaica/Spain. Domestic Animal Diversity Information System of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Accessed January 2016.
  3. Raza bovina Pirenaica: Datos Morfológicos (in Spanish). Ministerio de Agricultura, Alimentación y Medio Ambiente. Accessed January 2016.
  4. 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.
  5. José Antonio Mendizábal Aizpuru, F. J. Aranguren, Paola Eguinoa Ancho, Antonio Purroy Unanua, A. Arana (1998). Evolución de la morfología en la raza vacuna Pirenaica (in Spanish). Archivos de zootecnia 47 (178): 387–395.
  6. M.H. French, I. Johansson (1969). Razas Europeas de Ganado Bovino, volume II (in Spanish). Rome: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.
  7. Teófilo Echevarria Belzunegui (1975). Raza vacuna pirenaica: evolución, situación actual y perspectivas (doctoral thesis, in Spanish). Pamplona: Diputación Foral de Navarra. (not consulted).
  8. Teófilo Eceheverría Belzunegui (in Spanish); in: Auñamendi Eusko Entziklopedia. Usurbil: Eusko Ikaskuntza - Basque Studies Society. Accessed January 2016.
  9. Raza bovina Pirenaica: Datos Censales (in Spanish). Ministerio de Agricultura, Alimentación y Medio Ambiente. Accessed January 2016.
  10. Raza bovina Pirenaica: Datos Generales (in Spanish). Ministerio de Agricultura, Alimentación y Medio Ambiente. Accessed January 2016.
  11. Raza bovina Pirenaica: Usos y sistema de explotación (in Spanish). Ministerio de Agricultura, Alimentación y Medio Ambiente. Accessed January 2016.
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