Conservation status | FAO (2007): not listed[1] |
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Other names |
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Country of origin | Italy |
Distribution | province of Cuneo |
Standard | MIPAAF |
Use | triple-purpose, milk, meat and wool |
Traits | |
Weight | |
Height | |
Skin color | pinkish |
Wool color | straw-white |
Face color | white |
Horn status | hornless in both sexes |
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The Garessina or Muma is a breed of small sheep from the Garessina, the area surrounding Garessio in the province of Cuneo, in Piemonte in north-west Italy.[3] It is raised principally in the valleys of the Tanaro, its affluent the Negrone, and the Casotto; it is not raised commercially, but kept as a family sheep.[4][5] It has been influenced by Spanish Merino and French Alpine breeds. The wool is of fine quality.[4] The Garessina 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.[5]
Under the national Piano Sviluppo Regionale or regional development plan for 2000–2006, a subsidy was available for those who kept Garessina sheep; in 2004 it was claimed for 64 head.[6] In 2013 the total number recorded for the breed was 110.[7]