Capra Grigia

The Capra Grigia, French: Chèvre grise des montagnes, German: Graue Bergziege,[3] is a rare and endangered indigenous breed of domestic goat from Switzerland. It originates in the valleys of the cantons of the Grisons or Graubünden in the eastern part of the country, and of Ticino or Tessin in the south.[4] It is possibly related to the grey type of the Passeirer Gebirgsziege from the Autonomous Province of Bolzano in north-eastern Italy.[5]

Capra Grigia
Billy-goat
Conservation statusFAO (2007): critical-maintained[1]:112
Other names
  • French: Chèvre grise des montagnes
  • German: Graue Bergziege
  • Cavra del Sass
Country of originSwitzerland
Distribution
StandardCapra Grigia Schweiz
Use
  • meat
  • milk
  • vegetation management[2]
Traits
Weight
  • Male:
    72 kg[3]
  • Female:
    50 kg[3]
Height
  • Male:
    80 cm[3]
  • Female:
    75 cm[3]
Wool colourgrey, lower legs black
Face colourgrey with paler muzzle
Horn statushorned in both sexes
  • Goat
  • Capra aegagrus hircus

History

Documentation of the Capra Grigia in the valleys of the Ticino and the Grisons goes back more than 100 years. Three regional types were distinguished: the Bleni-Valmaggia or Lavizzarer, the Liviner or Misoxer, and the Riveria.[5] The breed was not recognised in the reorganisation of Swiss goat breeds in 1938, and infection with caprine arthritis encephalitis in the mid-twentieth century contributed to its near-total disappearance.[6] The Swiss association ProSpecieRara launched a conservation and recovery project for the Capra Grigia in 1997, recorded all surviving members in a herd-book, and started a controlled breeding programme. Breed standards were formulated in 2005, and in 2006 the Capra Grigia was officially recognised as a Swiss breed.[7]:112[8]:367 In 2007 the total number registered was 190, and the conservation status was listed by the FAO as "critical-maintained".[1][8]:367 In 2008, five apparently similar goats were discovered in the Valchiavenna in Italy, which increased the gene pool.[7] In 2011 a breed association, Capra Grigia Schweiz, was formed.[2]

At the end of 2011 a population of 475–490 was reported to DAD-IS.[3]

Characteristics

The Capra Grigia is sure-footed and agile, with hard hooves well-suited to the high mountain terrain of the southern Alps. The horns are strong, and grow upwards and outwards. The coat colour is similar to that of the Austrian Blobe Ziege: it varies from a mottled dark grey to a pale silver-white; the legs are dark grey or black, and there is a dark dorsal stripe.[8]:367

  • Nanny goat
  • Kids

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 June 2014.
  2. Capra Grigia (in German). Pro Specie Rara. Accessed June 2014.
  3. Breed data sheet: Capra Grigia/Switzerland. Domestic Animal Diversity Information System of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Accessed June 2014.
  4. Tableaux des races: Races caprines suisses – races menacées (in French). Schweizerischer Ziegenzuchtverband. Archived 15 July 2014.
  5. Hans-Peter Grunenfelder (ed.) (2003). Agricultural Genetic Resources in the Alps. St. Gallen: Monitoring Institute for Rare Breeds and Seeds in Europe. Accessed July 2017.
  6. Programma di salvaguardia della razza Capra Grigia: Obiettivi e strategie dell’allevamento (in Italian). Capra Grigia Schweiz. Accessed June 2014.
  7. Erhaltungsprojekt für Capra Grigia (in German). Pro Specie Rara. Accessed June 2014.
  8. 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.


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