Zerasca
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| Conservation status | |
|---|---|
| Country of origin | Italy |
| Distribution | Province of Massa Carrara, in Tuscany |
| Use | meat |
| Traits | |
| Weight |
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| Height |
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| Wool colour | white |
| Face colour | white, sometimes mottled with brown or grey |
| |
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The Zerasca is an Italian breed of upland sheep from the province of Massa Carrara, in Tuscany in central Italy. It is raised almost exclusively in the comune of Zeri and the neighbouring comune of Pontremoli,[3]: 306 and is one of the forty-two autochthonous local sheep breeds of limited distribution for which a flock-book is kept by the Associazione Nazionale della Pastorizia, the Italian national association of sheep-breeders.
It is reared only for lamb; lambs are milk-fed until they are slaughtered.
History
The origins of the Zerasca are uncertain.[3]: 306 It belongs to the Apennine group of breeds, and is the traditional sheep of the area of Zeri, in the upper Lunigiana, on the border between Tuscany and Emilia-Romagna. By the mid-nineteenth century this area had a reputation for producing lamb of good quality.[3]: 306
Because the area is not easily reached, the sheep remained largely isolated from other sheep populations until the mid-twentieth century. In the years after the Second World War, systematic use was made of Massese rams with the aim of improving milk yield; this resulted in heavier and faster-growing lambs, but also a reduction in resistance to disease and ability to forage on poor terrain, an increase in mammary defects, an increase in colour variability, and little improvement in milk yield.[3]: 306 A later attempt at improvement by cross-breeding with Bergamasca stock resulted in a lower killing-out percentage (carcase yield) than in pure-bred stock.[3]: 306
A breed society, the Consorzio di valorizzazione e tutela della pecora e dell'agnello di Zeri, was formed in 2001, and a Slow Food Praesidium established at about the same time.[4]
The Zerasca is one of the forty-two autochthonous local sheep breeds of limited distribution for which a flock-book is kept by the Associazione Nazionale della Pastorizia, the Italian national association of sheep-breeders.[5]: 83 In 2013 the total number for the breed was 951.[6] A total population of 380 head in 17 flocks was reported for 2023, including 315 breeding ewes and 30 active rams; in 2025 the conservation status of the breed was listed in DAD-IS as "at risk/endangered".[2]
Characteristics
The Zerasca is of medium size: on average, ewes stand about 75 cm at the shoulder and weigh some 62 kg.[3]: 307 Rams are always horned; some ewes are polled. The fleece is mostly white, with spots or patches of reddish or grey colour on the legs and face; the face, lower legs and underbelly are bare of wool.[7]: 958 [3]: 307 The skin is unpigmented, but may have pigmented areas on the face and legs.[3]: 307
The sheep are rustic and well adapted to grazing on the mountain pastures where they are kept almost year-round, coming under shelter only in the harshest winter weather.[5]: 83
Use
The Zerasca is reared only for the production of lamb.[5]: 83 The milk of the ewes, which has an unusually high protein content, is reserved for the lambs, which are kept at pasture and milk-fed until ready for slaughter.[4]
References
- ^ Barbara Rischkowsky, Dafydd Pilling (editors) (2007). List of breeds documented in the Global Databank for Animal Genetic Resources, annex to: The State of the World's Animal Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture. Rome: Commission on Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. ISBN 9789251057629. Archived 23 June 2020.
- ^ a b Breed data sheet: Zerasca / Italy (Sheep). Domestic Animal Diversity Information System of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Accessed September 2013.
- ^ a b c d e f g h Daniele Bigi, Alessio Zanon (2008). Atlante delle razze autoctone: Bovini, equini, ovicaprini, suini allevati in Italia (in Italian). Milan: Edagricole. ISBN 9788850652594.
- ^ a b Agnello di Zeri: Presidio Slow Food. Bra, Cuneo: Fondazione Slow Food per la Biodiversità Onlus/Slow Food Foundation for Biodiversity. Archived 13 July 2024.
- ^ a b c Le razze ovine e caprine in Italia (in Italian). Associazione Nazionale della Pastorizia: Ufficio centrale libri genealogici e registri anagrafici razze ovine e caprine. Archived 21 September 2013.
- ^ Consistenze Provinciali della Razza 97 ZERASCA Anno 2013 (in Italian). Associazione Nazionale della Pastorizia: Banca dati. Archived 27 September 2013.
- ^ Valerie Porter, Lawrence Alderson, Stephen J.G. Hall, D. Phillip Sponenberg (2016). Mason's World Encyclopedia of Livestock Breeds and Breeding (sixth edition). Wallingford: CABI. ISBN 9781780647944.