Conservation of Animal Genetic Resources : Prolific Tropical Sheep

In 1973 the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and the United Nations Environment Programme launched joint studies on the conservation of livestock breeds through a pilot project entitled conservation of animal genetic resources. The resulting 1975 report presented a brief global survey of livestock breeds identified as rare, endangered or vulnerable, and included a detailed examination of cattle breeds in Europe and the Mediterranean region. This species and region were selected because native European and Mediterranean cattle had been most affected by crossbreeding and replacement with more commercially favoured breeds. The findings indicated a serious erosion of genetic diversity, showing that only 33 out of 119 native breeds in the region were considered stable and not threatened with long term extinction.