The history and development of the four Southern African horse breeds, i.e. Basutho Pony, Nooitgedacht, South African (SA) Boerperd and Cape Boerperd, are traced from their common ancestor, the Cape Horse, to the present day. Recent blood-typing studies of the first three have shown them to be closer related to each other than to any other world breed. At the beginning of the twentieth century the Southern African horse industry was devastated after the Anglo Boer War (1899–1902). Indiscriminate crossbreeding and intentional importation of other specialized breeds led to the near extinction of the descendants of the Cape Horse in South Africa. Fortunately, the efforts of the Government Department of Agriculture and a number of private breeders to identify, conserve and develop the then existing genetic material over the past half century, resulted in the existence today of three small, but viable, registered breeds of locally adapted and versatile horses viz. Nooitgedacht, SA Boerperd and Cape Boerperd. The recent history and apparent present situation of the Basutho Pony in the neighbouring country of Lesotho was also described.

En este artículo se describe el probable origen del ganado Polled Criollo Pereira Camargo, y el hábitat donde este ganado ha vivido y todavía vive hasta el día de hoy Se describe también sus características zootécnicas, aptitudes y cualidades.

In the Northern Sporades islands of the Aegean Sea a goat population isolate exists with an exceptional milk yield potential (225 kg marketed milk from average lactations of 174 days). The prolificacy is 135% and the average adult live weight of the females 56 kg.

While the actual purebred “Skopelos” population is estimated at only 8000 goats, the development of recording and a breed selection programme, combined with a necessary conservation policy, should help preserve the breed and assure its development possibilities.

The origin, history and development of the Racka breed is described. This oldest of Central-European sheep breed dominated the Hungarian scene from the early 14th century to the late 1800s. To day not more than 4000 sheep exist. The author describes the live statistics and production data of the breed as well a some recent immunogenetic research results and conservation information.

Serrana de Teruel is an endangered cattle breed raised traditionally in the mountainous areas of Southern Aragon (Spain). With the aim of recovering the breed, a characterization was carried out to determine the morphology, husbandry and genetic values of the Serrana de Teruel breed. Individuals showed a medium to high degree of homogeneity and harmony, most of the animals being of straight profile, and eumetrical and sublongilineal individuals, although smaller in size than other phylogenetically proximate breeds. Biodiversity studies showed good diversity values despite the breed's low effective population size (240 individuals in 2010). These studies provided the basis for a sustainable programme of genetic conservation. In order to guarantee long-term maintenance, germplasm banks contain 6400 doses of semen and 74 embryos. Concurrently, the commercial viability of the breed was studied by means of an analysis of carcass and meat quality from three commercial categories – yearling, bull and steer (castrated at 9 months old) – with ages at slaughter of 12, 22 and 22 months and live weights of 470, 720 and 660 kg,, respectively. Good performances and high-quality products with no commercial constraints in the beef market were obtained. Finally, a prospective study for a new beef quality product labelled ‘Serrana de Teruel’ was performed, according to the opinions of experts. These studies provide the standard requirements for the alternative production of a labelled beef product that might create an incentive for the production of the Serrana de Teruel breed among other breeds, and thus favour the conservation of the breed in the medium term.

The genetic value of ancient breeds of livestock is recognized increasingly all over the world. This seems especially important in the case of domestic fowl where hybrids are increasingly dominating everywhere. This paper describes some old Hungarian breeds.

Within the species of domestic fowl in Hungary the following breeds should be taken into consideration for preservation: the three colour variants white, yellow and speckled - of improved fowl, already classified as individual breeds called White Hungarian, Yellow Ijungarian and Speckled Hungarian, respectively. The white and speckled breeds both have a naked neck variety too The Transylvanian Naked Neck, although similar to the above variants, is oi different origin.

El cerdo ibérico constituye la población más amplia entre las pertenecientes al tipo mediterráneo y se mantiene en el S. W. de la Península Ibérica con un sistema productivo estrechamente ligado al medio natural. En los últimos años ha experimentado un auge asociado al establecimiento de un mercado propio para sus productos. Aunque el número de cabezas sea aparentemente considerable, la alta proporción de los cruzamientos con Duroc hace peligrar la supervivencia de algunas de sus variedades. En este trabajo se describen las características de la raza y de sus particulares sistemas de producción tanto en el campo como en la industria, así como la estructura de la población en relación con los problemas de su conservación.

In Peru criollo cattle play an important role in the lives of the communities of the high Andes; they are a source of protein and of labour; their milk is sold as raw material or used to produce cheese by traditional methods (quesillo or cachipa). Reports of molecular characterization of milk proteins in the Peruvian criollo cattle are scarce, and in the absence of selection and improvement programmes, the diversity of locally adapted criollo cattle is being lost, without greater advantage being taken of this animal genetic resource. The results of genetic characterization of kappa caseins (CSN3) and beta lactoglobulins (BLG) in four populations of criollo cattle from Andean communities in Peru are reported. Allelic frequencies were: CSN3A = 0.590, CSN3B = 0.410, BLGA = 0.400 and BLGB = 0.600.

Se describe una población de vacunos asilvestrados en el Parque Nacional “Los Glaciares” en Argentina, en cuanto a su origen, características y plan de conservación. Parte de esa población constituye un hato de raza criolla argentina en estado de pureza. Este biotipo se considera el más austral del mundo y está adaptado a condiciones climáticas muy adversas. Sería relevante su conservación por razones históricas, científicas y presumiblemente económicas.

In June 1994 a group of Latin American geneticists met in Venezuela to discuss the current state of knowledge and priorities for research in the genetic improvement of dual purpose populations. The group also included specialists in the fields of economics, extensionand production systems, so that the views of the geneticists were constantly confronted with the practical realities of the field. This paper summarizes the conclusions and recommendations of the group. The bibliography provides a list of key references which cover the majority of the scientific evidence upon which the conclusions are based. The two mainconclusions arrived at concerned education and information dissemination: i) an unacceptably wide gap exists between current knowledge on genetic (as well as other) aspects of dual purpose cattle and the teaching curricula of most institutions of higher education in the region. There is an urgent need to introduce up-to-date information on this topic into the education system at all levels. ü) A serious effort should be made regionally to increase the number and quality of scientific and extension publications in this area, and to encourage the exchange of information between research workers.

The Pirot sheep is a small Zackel that has been developed in the region of Pirot and the neighbouring municipalities in Serbia. Pirot sheep population has been reduced to only 60 animals in the Republic of Serbia. An overview of qualitative phenotypical and morphometrical characteristics of Pirot sheep from the Stara Planina is presented in this paper. The sheep included in this study belong to the last flock of the breed. The evaluation aims to obtain the phenotypical description of this indigenous breed as a phase of preservation strategy. Therefore, a total of 51 ewes and two rams were measured to obtain the detailed data concerning conformation. The phenotypical characteristics of animals included were also described. Based on the results, the Pirot sheep is a small breed with compact, slightly rectangular body frame (body length 115.40 percent of height at withers). The investigated sheep population was homogeneous, and morphological variations were limited to the data obtained in our research. The differences detected among different age groups were significant and reflected late maturing and slow growth of individuals. The comparison of the data determined by the evaluation of the modern population of Pirot sheep with the description from the older literature did not reveal that many significant changes of the morphological characteristics have occurred during the last 30 years. The small effective population and increasing inbreeding can threaten the efforts to preserve this sheep. The cultural heritage of the local community is also in danger due to the fact that the cornerstones of rural tradition in the area have been production of the three nationally important agricultural brands in Serbia – Pirot kilim (Pirot rug), Pirot/Stara Planina lamb and Pirot/Stara Planina Kachkaval cheese, all of which are depending on the Pirot sheep breeding. Additionally, some problems affecting the preservation of animal genetic resources in Serbia are reviewed with the focus on the Stara Planina. The research indicated that ex situ conservation should also be considered in the case of the Pirot sheep.

Uruguayan Creole cattle are descended from animals brought by the Spanish conquerors. The population grew extensively without directional management and became semi-wild before the introduction of commercial breeds in the 19th century. Today only 575 animals remain, restricted to the San Miguel National Park. We performed a population viability analysis of this reserve using VORTEX v. 8.31 to study its demographic and genetic parameters, assess the environmental factors that affect its development, evaluate its future risk of extinction and test different management options. The probability of extinction in the next 100 years was always zero, even in the more pessimistic scenarios. The growth rate of the population was always positive and mostly affected by the mortality rate of calves. Population size increased rapidly up to carrying capacity, this being the only limiting factor for population growth. Retained heterozygosity was always above 90% and the inbreeding coefficient below 0.10. The analysis shows that the population is not at risk due to its genetic diversity and demographic structure, however all the individuals are concentrated in only one place. We suggest its subdivision into sub-populations located in different regions and connected by gene flow, decreasing the risk of extinction and accomplishing the conservation and self-sustainability goals.

The Alberes cattle breed is a Catalonian autochthonous bovine population located in the Alberes Massif (north east of Spain), in the eastern extreme of the Pyrenees Mountains, and is well adapted to this zone in which it mainly makes use of forest resources. Cows are small sized and rustic, living under a semi-feral management system with minimal human contact. Traditionally, two coat colour varieties, Black and Fawn, have been described. Nevertheless, in both coat colour types the wild-type allele (E+) of the extension locus predominates. The Alberes breed clusters within the Cantabrian trunk, although some other breeds may also have influenced the population during its history. All of the females are used for replacement and the surplus males are destined for fattening despite their low meat potential. Age at first calving ranges between 3 and 4 years. The 2007 census estimated the number of adult animals at 138 females and 9 males. The Alberes breed is considered as an Endangered Breed according to the FAO classification and intends to start an in situ minimum kinship conservation programme and also a cryoconservation scheme with embryos and semen.

Local Egyptian breeds of sheep, though considered small to medium size, have the desirable qualities of continuous breeding throughout the year and hardiness. Increasing the flock owners income may be through:

1. Higher productivityby accelerated lamb production of the valley and delta Ossimi and Rahmani breeds and improving the natural resource situation for the adapted desert Barki breed.

2. Establishing a simple grading system for the local coarse wool to improve marketing and encourage its use in small scale industries, hence rural development of the area.

The Istrian breed of cattle, of the Yugoslavian peninsula of that name, is an endangered species. The Istrian breed is related to other Podolic breeds and research into its genetic relationships with other breeds, as well as its conservation through the establishment of open nucleus units, frozen embryo stocks and a semen bank is being undertaken.

The American Minor Breeds Conservancy and the National Council on Gene Resources are organizations in the United States whose activities are either wholly or in part directed to the conservation of rare and threatened breeds of farm animals. Past and current projects, goals, and the kinds of services provided by the AMBC and the NCGR are presented in brief form.