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The Big Guys in Rare Breeds

© Laura Phillips

Individual owners and breed societies play crucial roles in saving heritage livestock from extinction. There are many times, though, when it’s nice to have a larger umbrella organization to turn to for help, advice, information, and contacts with top experts in developing technology such as cryogenics or DNA studies.

Some of the leading umbrella organizations conduct their own research in breed populations, health and genetic issues, and the marketing of heritage breeds to a generally uninformed public. They publish reports and books to help individual breeders improve their operations. Some also work with government officials, with varying degrees of success, for laws that protect heritage breeds --- or at least don’t inadvertently damage their chances of survival.

Rare Breeds International

website: http://www.rbi.it/

This international organization’s mission is to halt the global loss of animal genetic resources. It works with governments and conservation groups worldwide, and encourages new groups to form in areas of the world where there aren’t yet organized conservation efforts. Rare Breeds International maintains a database of consultants and coordinates efforts between members, governments, and experts. Rare Breeds International holds annual meetings and a conference every three years.. Membership is open to both individuals and conservation organizations, and fees are based on a sliding scale according to the economic status of the home country.

American Livestock Breeds Conservancy

website: http://www.albc-usa.org

The ALBC acts as a clearing-house for information on minority livestock breeds in the United States. When I want to know more about a particular breed, I start with their website. If the breed listed on their conservation list, I can follow the links from there to some of the best resources on the web, as well as non-web contact information.

This organization, founded in 1977, began as the American Minor Breeds Conservancy in New England. The name changed in 1993 to reflect the wider scope of the organization’s activities. Perhaps its most important activity is a periodic census of livestock breeds, which includes monitoring the bloodlines of many of the rarer breeds. The information from this census helps determine the ALBC’s priority list. The list changes as breeds increase or decline in numbers – and sometimes simply because more information has become available about U.S. and global populations.

The ALBC conservation priority list is divided into five categories, based on figures for annual registrations with breed organizations and on world population. Their lists include breeds native to the North American continent and “imports” of significant historical. Breeds of critical status have fewer than 200 North American annual registrations and a global population of less than 2,000. Rare status indicates fewer than 1,000 annual North American registrations and less than 5,000 global population. Watch status is conferred on breeds with fewer than 2,500 annual North American registrations and a global population of less than 10,000. Recovering breeds were once listed in another category and have exceeded watch category numbers, but still are being monitored. Breeds listed in the study category are of genetic interest to preservationists, but lack either clear definition as a breed or sufficient documentation to determine which conservation category they should be placed in.

The copyright of the article The Big Guys in Rare Breeds in Livestock Breeds is owned by Laura Phillips. Permission to republish The Big Guys in Rare Breeds in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.