The Vissana is a breed of domestic sheep from the province of Macerata, in the Marche in central Italy.[1] It may be extinct.[2] It takes its name from the comune of Visso in the Monti Sibillini, and is or was raised mostly in that area, extending also into Umbria and Tuscany; herds under transhumant management formerly over-wintered in Lazio .[2] Cross-breeding with the Comisana, the Sarda and the Sopravissana may have contributed to a substantial decline in breed numbers which was noted in the 1980s.[2] The Vissana is one of the forty-two autochthonous local sheep breeds of limited distribution for which a herdbook is kept by the Associazione Nazionale della Pastorizia, the Italian national association of sheep-breeders.[3]

Vissana
Conservation statuspossibly extinct
Country of originItaly
DistributionMarche, Tuscany, Umbria
Usetriple-purpose: meat, milk, wool
Traits
Weight
  • Male:
    50–55 kg
  • Female:
    40–45 kg
Height
  • Male:
    70 cm
  • Female:
    60 cm
Wool colorwhite
Face colorwhite, sometimes marked with brown or grey
Notes
triple-purpose, meat, milk and wool

In 1983 the breed numbered about 1000. A total number for the breed has not been recorded in the herdbook for many years.[4] Numbers have not been reported to DAD-IS since 2000.[1]

References edit

  1. ^ a b Breed data sheet: Vissana/Italy. Domestic Animal Diversity Information System of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Accessed September 2013.
  2. ^ a b c Daniele Bigi, Alessio Zanon (2008). Atlante delle razze autoctone: Bovini, equini, ovicaprini, suini allevati in Italia (in Italian). Milan: Edagricole. ISBN 9788850652594. p. 304–305.
  3. ^ Le razze ovine e caprine in Italia (in Italian). Associazione Nazionale della Pastorizia: Ufficio centrale libri genealogici e registri anagrafici razze ovine e caprine. p. 82. Accessed September 2013.
  4. ^ Consistenze Provinciali della Razza R7 VISSANA Anno 2012 (in Italian). Associazione Nazionale della Pastorizia: Banca dati. Accessed September 2013.