SOS! SAVE OUR SHIRE HORSES
The heavy horse is a traditional part of the rural scene but a campaign to save them from extinction is essential
BRITISH FARM ANIMALS UNDER THREAT
RBST publishes a danger watchlist on its website which includes these breeds: Boreray sheep Five years ago they became the only sheep breed to reach the critical point of having just 300 registered breeding females. Thanks to conservation work their numbers have soared to 595 and the Boreray is now classified as vulnerable, not critically endangered. Bagot goats Believed to be Britain’s oldest breed of goat, dating back to 1389. Today they are officially endangered with an estimated 282 breeding females. Chillingham cattle The Chillingham feral herd has lived in splendid isolation in Chillingham Park in Northumbria since the 13th century. But today RBST estimates there are only 27 breeding pedigree females and five males. Vaynol cattle There are fewer than 12 registered breeding females and three males worldwide and RBST owns most of them. With the help of a grant from the Prince of Wales Charitable Foundation, RBST purchased a Vaynol heifer called Templeson Ursula to increase numbers. Landrace pigs Over 90 per cent of our profitable, high-quality meat comes from Landrace bloodlines, once one of the UK’s most popular pig breeds. And yet now the breed is endangered with an estimated 138 breeding pedigree females. faced the horrors of the Somme and Passchendaele inspiring the book War Horse, which was turned into a hugely-successful stage play and Steven Spielberg film.
In the 1920s the growth in lorries and tractors saw the start of a slow decline in heavy horse numbers. During the Second World War about 6,000 Suffolk Punches were registered – but today RBST reckons there are only 80 viable breeding females.
NUMBERS are worryingly low, says Mrs Sprake. “Just 240 Shire, 199 Clydesdale and 25 Suffolk pedigree foals were registered last year. Compare that to 1943 when there were 935 Shire foals, 1,289 Clydesdales and 745 Suffolks.
“The figures are shocking. At no point in time has the issue been more serious. They started dying out because of mechanisation after the war when there were huge changes in agriculture and industry. But I don’t think people realise how bad it is now.
“We are losing a whole part of our history. We need people to see the value of these animals because they are an important part of our heritage.
“We want to raise enough money to put semen from 25 unrelated stallions into the gene bank so it can be used if necessary to keep these precious breeds in existence.”
To save each breed will cost £125,000 so every donation helps – in fact a donation of just £68 will produce one sample of semen and that could be the one that saves the breed in a doomsday scenario.
“We are determined they won’t die out under our watch. We’re not asking everyone to go out and breed a shire horse but even a small donation would help us to collect genetic material and ensure that they won’t die out.” To find out more or make a donation visit rbst.org.uk