KAZALCI OKOLJA

Key message
Neutral

Slovenia breeds 11 horse breeds, 15 cattle breeds, 7 swine breeds, 6 sheep breeds, 4 goat breeds, 67 breeds of chicken, 3 breeds of turkey, 11 breeds of duck, 7 breeds of geese, 45 rabbit breeds and the Carniolan Bee. Eight of a total of 12 indigenous breeds of farm animals are endangered. Breeds whose adaptation to natural conditions due to the specific style of rearing is of great importance are the most successful in defying the pressure of foreign breeds (Carniolan Bee, Jezersko-Solčava Sheep). 7 out of a total of 17 traditional breeds are also endangered.
Generally speaking, the state of the endangered breeds is improving due to more intensive professional endeavours to conserve the breeds of farm animals, and due to the foundation of animal gene banks and breeders’ organisations. The Cika Cattle breed, where between 1991 and 2004 the number of the first inseminations of breeding cows increased 34-fold, is an example of successful breeding. On the other hand, however, the state of the widespread traditional breeds, which do not enjoy special conservation treatment, is turning for the worse. Some of them cannot cope with the pressures of economically more competitive global breeds and their number is on the decrease.


The indicator illustrates the breeds of individual species of domestic animals, changes in the number of cattle and breeders included in the gene bank, as well as the classification of breeds into indigenous, traditional and exotic breeds. In cattle, the situation is illustrated with the number of the first inseminations with bulls of individual breeds, which is a good indicator of the number of breeding cows and the use of breeding animals. In terms of origin, breeds of domestic animals in Slovenia are divided into indigenous, traditional and exotic, and in terms of endangerment, into endangered and widespread breeds. Indigenous breeds of domestic animals are those which developed in the territory of the Republic of Slovenia. They are listed by individual names in the Livestock Breeding Act, which also defines the procedure for breed recognition. Traditional breeds of domestic animals are those which have adapted to the climatic and other conditions of a specific area. In the Republic of Slovenia, traditional breeds are considered the breeds which have been under continuous rearing and selection supervision for at least fifty years in case of horses, donkeys or cattle, or thirty years in case of other species. Exotic breeds of domestic animals are those which developed elsewhere and have not yet adapted to the climatic and other conditions in the Republic of Slovenia, or have not been under continuous rearing and selection supervision for at least fifty years in case of horses, donkeys or cattle, or thirty years in case of other species.


Charts

Figure KM16-1: Number of breeds by individual species of domestic animals
Sources:

Public service tasks of gene bank in animal husbandry and Central cattle breeding database GOVEDO, 2008.

Show data
Chicken Rabbits Cattle Horses Ducks Pigs Geese Sheep Goats Turkeys
Indigenous – total number 1 0 1 3 0 1 0 4 1 0
Indigenous – endangered number 1 0 1 3 0 1 0 3 1 0
Traditional – total number 6 0 2 1 0 3 0 1 2 0
Traditional – not endangered number 5 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 2 0
Exotic number 60 45 12 7 11 3 7 1 1 3
Total number 67 45 15 11 11 7 7 6 4 3
Bees
Indigenous – total number 1
Indigenous – endangered number 0
Traditional – total number 0
Traditional – not endangered number 0
Exotic number 0
Total number 1
Figure KM16-2: Indigenous breeds of domestic animals, number of breeding females and males, and number of breeders included in the gene bank
Sources:

Public service tasks of gene bank in animal husbandry and Central cattle breeding database GOVEDO, 2006.

Show data
No. of breeding females and males in the GB - 2001 No. of breeding females and males – 2004 No. of breeders – 2001 No. of breeders - 2004
Horses – total number 320 368 185 205
Horses – Lipizzaner number 51 26
Slovenski hladnokrvni konj number 223 139
Posavski konj number 94 40
Cattle: Cika number 150 189 96 110
Pigs: the Krško polje pig number 37 38 3 3
Sheep – total number 2570 2602 57 57
Jezersko-solčavska ovca number 975 21
Belokranjska pramenka number 289 14
Istrska pramenka number 448 4
Bovška ovca number 890 18
Goats: the Drežnica goat number 183 208 26 26
Hens: the Styrian hen (variety: partridge-coloured) number 186 323 4 4
Figure KM16-3: Number of the first inseminations of breeding cows with individual breeds of bulls according to years
Sources:

Public service tasks of gene bank in animal husbandry and Central cattle breeding database GOVEDO, 2006.

Show data
1967 1972 1975 1980 1985 1990 1991 1995 1998 1999
Simmental number 94915 108313 106482 113077 126521 116642 118773 119260 121796 120353
Brown number 67823 66690 68305 63199 73505 56262 55461 45079 35676 32514
Holstein number 4712 8889 11282 16646 20103 22672 23227 25468 27422 28697
Charolais number np np 697 7853 4700 3955 3502 4650 4463 3328
Limousine number np np 3407 5770 2164 3481 3215 5784 11165 11080
Belgian Blue and White number np np np np np np np 123 909 3614
Cika number 1405 1581 1282 423 160 42 16 170 350 317
Other number 505 107 27 np np np np np 53 105
Total number 169360 185580 191482 206968 227153 203054 204194 200534 201834 200008
2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007
Simmental number 113827 112161 107764 105512 103030 100651 96601 93295
Brown number 29338 27682 24849 22130 19562 17801 16368 15827
Holstein number 33257 35410 36409 34784 34283 34555 36355 37387
Charolais number 2689 2638 2493 2426 2594 2385 2645 2383
Limousine number 11564 12727 12703 13374 13551 14001 14042 13894
Belgian Blue and White number 6432 7275 7663 7714 8536 7971 6720 5539
Cika number 359 417 465 558 546 642 749 795
Other number 18 4 3 3 3 58 194 345
Total number 197484 198314 192349 186501 182105 178064 173674 169465
Figure KM16-4: Number of first inseminations of breeding cows with Cika Breed bulls by years
Sources:

Central cattle breeding database GOVEDO.

Show data
1967 1972 1975 1980 1985 1990 1991 1995 1998 1999
Cika breed number 1405 1581 1282 423 160 42 16 170 350 317
2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007
Cika breed number 359 417 465 558 546 642 749 795

Goals

The goal is to preserve as much genetic diversity in livestock rearing as possible. This is the foundation for the production of food and the conservation of landscape diversity, and for securing an income on farms. Domestic animal breeds are part of the natural and cultural heritage. In 1996, Slovenia ratified the Convention on Biological Diversity (Rio de Janeiro, 1992), the goal of which was to significantly reduce the declining trend in biodiversity on the global, regional and national level by 2010. Conservation of genetic diversity in livestock breeding is regulated by the Livestock Breeding Act and the Rules on Preserving Biodiversity in Livestock Breeding. We have to pay special attention to the indigenous and traditional breeds, which are adapted to local conditions.


Due to harsh competitiveness on the increasingly open livestock products market, keeping of indigenous and traditional cattle, pig and poultry breeds is becoming less popular. Globalisation in the selection of the most commercially attractive breeds is only increasing the pressure. In Slovenia, the share of animals of exotic breeds and cross-breeding with exotic breeds is on the increase. In addition to that, buying purebred material from other populations and thus introducing mostly the genes of currently commercially most interesting qualities has a large impact on the traditional locally adapted breeds, whose adaptation to local conditions is decreasing.

In cattle breeding, which is the most important type of livestock breeding, the number of inseminations with bulls of the traditional Brown breed is decreasing rapidly, and the number of inseminations with bulls of exotic Holstein and exotic meat breeds is on the increase. Between 1991 and 2004, the number of first inseminations with bulls of the Brown breed decreased by 65 %.

The degree of endangerment of indigenous breeds is high. Eight of a total of twelve indigenous breeds of domestic animals are endangered. It is mostly the breeds whose adaptation to natural conditions is of major importance due to the style of rearing that successfully defy the pressures of foreign breeds. Such breeds are the Carniolan Bee and the Jezersko-Solčava Sheep, and partly also the Bovec Sheep. Proper guidance and support in breeding the breeding animals are two decisive factors in the conservation of endangered indigenous breeds. 1991, when the gene bank was established and professional services started to strive for the conservation of indigenous breeds, presented a milestone in such endeavours. An even more decisive element was the foundation of breeders’ organisations that connected breeders and lovers of individual breeds. The Cika Cattle breed is an example of successful breeding: in the period between 1991 and 2004, the number of the first inseminations of breeding cows increased by 34 times.


Methodology

Data for Slovenia
- Central Cattle Breeding Database, Agricultural Institute of Slovenia, www.govedo.si
- Public Service Tasks of Gene Bank of Animal Husbandry, Gene bank, Biotechnical Faculty, Department of Animal Science, www.bfro.uni-lj.si/Kat_center/genska_banka/
- State of Farm Animal Genetic Resources in Slovenia), Domžale: Biotechnical Faculty, Department of Animal Science, 2003)

The Central Cattle Breeding Database contains data on the animals’ breed and origin, inseminations, fertility and production traits, movements of animals, etc. Most of the basic data are collected by the local institutions of the Chamber of Agriculture and Forestry of Slovenia, and the database is administrated by the Agricultural Institute of Slovenia. It contains the data on more than 97% of all registered cattle in Slovenia. Public Service Tasks of Gene Bank of Animal Husbandry manages the gene bank, collects and processes data on the number of animals of individual breeds included in the gene bank. A detailed description of the situation can be found in The State of Farm Animal Genetic Resources in Slovenia.