Rare breeds are given up-to-date assessment
ANEW-LOOK breakdown of the Westcountry’s herds and flocks of native breeds has been launched to help provide a “more accurate reflection” of their true conservation status.
The Rare Breeds Survival Trust (RBST) works across the UK to save and safeguard the future of rare and native livestock and equine breeds, and its Watchlist is the annual situation report for these breeds.
The way in which the Watchlist is produced has been updated for 202122 to give a more holistic view of each breed’s outlook, reflecting robust measures of the genetic diversity within each breed and moving away from the previous focus purely on breeding female registrations.
It is hoped that this simpler format will enable the document to remain a “meaningful conservation tool”, going forward.
Christopher Price, chief executive of the RBST, said the outlook for many of the UK’s rare native breeds has remained “broadly unchanged”, citing continuing interest from new breeders, the commitment of dedicated breed societies, conservation programmes at the 25 RBST-accredited farm parks and generous public support as the main reasons.
“Farming with rare and native breeds has become increasingly attractive over the past few years, as consumers place a premium on great tasting, locally sourced meat that is kind to the natural environmental and based around high standards of animal welfare,” he explained. “At the same time, we have seen Government policy starting to reflect the value of our native breeds to maintaining our natural environment and promoting biodiversity.”
In addition, the Watchlist has been simplified to return to the more straightforward categorisation used when it was first devised. Breeds are now either ‘Priority’, ‘At Risk’, or a ‘UK Native Breed’ and the information is presented in a simple, colour-coded format.
Priority breeds represent those breeds of most concern, which are both rare and have increased inbreeding. At Risk breeds represent those breeds with lower numbers than ideal and with a degree of inbreeding that gives cause for concern.
The 2021-22 Watchlist finds a number of the Westcountry’s native sheep breeds in the ‘At Risk’ category. These are the Devon and Cornwall Longwool, Devon Closewool, Dorset Down, Dorset Horn, Greyface Dartmoor and the Whiteface Dartmoor. Listed as ‘UK Native Breeds’ are the Exmoor Horn and Poll Dorset.
From the pig breeds, the British Lop and Large Black – both possessing strong Westcountry origin within their pedigrees – sit in the highest ‘Priority’ category.
Also finding themselves listed as priority breeds are the Dartmoor and Exmoor pony. It is a brighter outlook for the South West’s cattle breeds, with the Red Ruby Devon and South Devon both classed as ‘UK Native Breeds’.
Mr Price said: “The new Watchlist more clearly shows a number of breeds which are at risk but with an improving outlook for their survival well into the future, including Traditional Hereford cattle and British White cattle, Oxford Sandy and Black pigs, New Forest ponies, Bagot goats and Golden Guernsey goats, Leicester Longwool sheep, Boreray sheep and Greyface Dartmoor sheep.”