KAZALCI OKOLJA

Key message
Neutral

In Slovenia, the breeding of indigenous domestic animals is becoming less and less attractive, and as many as ten out of 11 native breeds and one indigenous race of domestic animals are endangered. The share of introduced animal breeds and cross-breeds with alien breeds has been increasing. The pressure of introduced breeds is successfully faced in particular by breeds and races where adaptation to natural conditions is particularly important because of the method of breeding (Jezersko-Solčava sheep, Carniolan bee). Nine out of 16 traditional breeds are also endangered.


The indicator shows breeds and race of individual species of domestic animals, trends in the number of breeders and farmers involved in the gene bank, trend in the number of breeding female and male animals and farmers included in the gene bank, trend in the number of animals and breeders who applied for agri-environmental payments - breeding of indigenous and traditional breeds of farm animals, and the distribution of breeds on indigenous, traditional and introduced animals. In cattle, the situation is presented by the number of first inseminations by bulls of individual breeds, which is a good indicator of the number of breeding females, and the use of breeding males. As regards the origin, the breeds and race of domestic animals were divided into native, traditional and introduced ones, and as regards endangered species they were divided into endangered and non- endangered.

The indigenous domestic animals are those breeds which occurred in the territory of Slovenia. The Slovenian bee Apis mellifera Carnica (Carniolan bee) is also an indigenous race. Indigenous breeds are stated by names of in the Livestock-Breeding Act which sets out the procedure for their recognition. Traditional breeds are those breeds of domestic animals which have adapted to climate and other conditions of a certain area. In the Republic of Slovenia, traditional breeds include those which are under continuous breeding and selection supervision at least fifty years in case of horses, donkeys or cattle, or thirty years for other species. Introduced breeds are breeds of domestic animals that have occurred elsewhere and have not yet adapted to climate and other conditions in Slovenia, or are not under permanent breeding and selection supervision at least fifty years in case of horses, donkeys or cattle, or thirty years for other species. The level of endangered breeds was taken from the register if breeds with a zoo-technical evaluation.


Charts

Figure KM16-1: The number of breeds and race by individual species of domestic animals in 2008
Sources:

Public service tasks of gene bank in animal husbandry, 2006; Central cattle breeding database, 2009; The State of Farm Animal Genetic Resources in Slovenia, 2003.

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 2 0 3 0 1 2 0
Traditional – endangered number 4 0 0 2 0 1 0 0 2 0
Exotic number 60 45 14 6 11 2 7 1 1 3
Exotic– endangered number np 2 np 1 np np np 0 0 np
Total number 67 45 17 11 11 6 7 6 4 3
Bees
Indigenous – total number 1
Indigenous – endangered number 0
Traditional – total number 0
Traditional – endangered number 0
Exotic number 0
Exotic– endangered number 0
Total number 1
Figure KM16-2: Indigenous breeds of domestic animals, the number of breeding females and males, and breeders included in the gene bank
Sources:

Public service tasks of gene bank in animal husbandry, 2006; The State of Farm Animal Genetic Resources in Slovenia, 2003.

Show data
breeding females and males - 2001 breeding females and males – 2004 breeders – 2001 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: Indigenous breeds of domestic animals, the number of breeding animals and breeders who applied for agri-environmental payments - breeding of indigenous and traditional breeds of domestic animals
Sources:

Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Food, Agency of the Republic of Slovenia for Agricultural Markets and Rural Development , 2009.

Show data
animals - 2004 animals - 2005 animals - 2006 animals - 2007 animals - 2008 No. of breeders - 2004 No. of breeders - 2005 No. of breeders - 2006 No. of breeders - 2007 No. of breeders - 2008
Horses – total number 2392 2837 3105 3160 3207 799 876 879 884 860
Horses – Lipizzaner number 504 542 608 602 587 87 81 80 85 83
Slovenski hladnokrvni konj number 1520 1854 2009 2022 2053 589 647 648 636 616
Posavski konj number 368 441 488 536 567 123 148 151 163 161
Cattle: Cika number 434 535 650 784 829 189 220 237 237 226
Pigs: the Krško polje pig number 292 487 489 592 566 30 46 47 51 48
Sheep – total number 6281 6884 7230 7773 7693 167 171 169 192 183
Jezersko-solčavska ovca number 3828 4164 4133 4868 4810 122 119 115 139 136
Belokranjska pramenka number 439 587 614 668 588 17 21 21 22 18
Istrska pramenka number 661 602 802 731 752 5 5 5 5 4
Bovška ovca number 1353 1531 1681 1506 1543 23 26 28 26 25
Goats: the Drežnica goat number 210 282 255 279 288 16 19 19 17 17
Hens: the Styrian hen (variety: partridge-coloured) number 410 345 492 752 360 9 5 3 3 2
Figure KM16-4: The number of first insemination of breeding females by individual breed of bulls by years
Sources:

Central cattle breeding database, Results of Dairy and Beef Recording, 2008.

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 2008
Simmental number 113827 112161 107764 105512 103030 100651 96601 93295 91713
Brown number 29338 27682 24849 22130 19562 17801 16368 15827 15173
Holstein number 33257 35410 36409 34784 34283 34555 36355 37387 38716
Charolais number 2689 2638 2493 2426 2594 2385 2645 2383 2026
Limousine number 11564 12727 12703 13374 13551 14001 14042 13894 12251
Belgian Blue and White number 6432 7275 7663 7714 8536 7971 6720 5539 4186
Cika number 359 417 465 558 546 642 749 795 739
Other number 18 4 3 3 3 58 194 345 379
Total number 197484 198314 192349 186501 182105 178064 173674 169465 165183
Figure KM16-5: The number of first insemination of breeding females with bulls of Cika breed by years
Sources:

Central cattle breeding database, Results of Dairy and Beef Recording, 2008.

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 2008
Cika breed number 359 417 465 558 546 642 749 795 739

Goals

- preserve, to the highest extent possible, biological diversity in animal husbandry which is the basis for food production, conservation of landscape diversity and securing income on farms
- special care must be paid to locally adapted breeds and race, i.e. to indigenous and the traditional ones.


Breeds of domestic animals are part of the natural and cultural heritage. In 1996, Slovenia ratified the Convention on Biological Diversity (Rio de Janeiro, 1992), whose aim is to significantly reduce, by 2010, the rate of biodiversity loss at the global, regional and national levels. Special care must be paid to locally adapted breeds, namely the indigenous and the traditional ones.

Due to strong competitiveness in an increasingly open market of livestock products, the breeding of indigenous and traditional breeds of cattle, pigs and poultry is becoming less attractive. Additional pressure results from globalization of the selection of commercially most interesting breeds. In Slovenia, the share of introduced animal breeds and their cross-breeds has been increasing. In addition, the locally adapted traditional breeds are strongly influenced by the purchase of breeding material from other populations by which genes for the currently most interesting commercial properties are being introduced, but these breeds are losing the ability of adjustment to local conditions.

In 2008, Slovenia was breeding one race and 177 different breeds of traditional and locally adapted, indigenous and introduced domestic animals, namely 11 breeds of horses, 17 breeds of cattle, 6 pig breeds, 6 sheep breeds, 4 goat breeds, 67 hen breeds, 3 turkey breeds, 11 duck breeds, 7 geese breeds, 45 breeds of rabbits and a race of Carniolan bee. Among them, only 12 were indigenous and 16 traditional breeds, while others (150) were introduced. Most native breeds are with hens (60), rabbits (45) and cattle (14). Among many introduced breeds, at least 3 breeds are endangered – 2 breeds of rabbits and 1 horse breed where the Slovenian selection is being carried out.

The level of endangered locally adapted breeds is high. Nine out of 16 traditional breeds are endangered. The endangered traditional breeds include 4 breeds of hens, 2 breeds of horses, two breeds of goats and 1 breed of pig. The level of endangered indigenous breeds is even higher. Out of the total of 12 indigenous breeds of domestic animals, ten were endangered in 2008 - three breeds of horses, sheep and hens, and one breed of cattle, pigs and goats. The pressure of introduced breeds is successfully faced particularly by breeds and races where adaptation to natural conditions is particularly important because of the method of breeding. These are the Carniolan bee and the Jezersko-Solčava sheep, and partly the Bovec sheep. The conservation of endangered native breeds requires the guided breeding and support to the producers of breeding animals. The turning point was the year 1991, when a gene bank was set up, and the professional services joined their efforts to preserve indigenous breeds. Even more important was the establishment of breeding organizations which connect the farmers and lovers of individual breeds.

The trends and the number of breeders and indigenous breeds of farm animals were evaluated on the basis of applications for agri-environmental payments - breeding of indigenous and traditional breeds of domestic animals. In 2008, Slovenia had 11 indigenous breeds and one race of domestic animals, namely four breeds of sheep (7,693 animals), 3 breeds of horses (3,207 animals), and one breed of cattle (829 animals), hens (360 animals), goats (288 animals), pigs (566 animals), and the race of Carniolan bee. In the period 2004-2008, the number of indigenous farm animal breeds increased in almost all species, by far most in cattle and pigs (over 90%), while the number of goats fell by 12%. In 2008, Slovenia had 1,336 indigenous domestic animal breeders. Most of them were breeding horses (860). The number of breeders in the period 2004-2008 increased for almost all indigenous breeds, mostly for krško-polje pigs where there was 60% more farmers in 2008. At the same time, there was an increased lack of interest in breeding the indigenous breed - Styria hen - with only 2 breeders in 2008, which is 78% less than in 2004.

Slovenia is the original area of the Carniolan bee race. In 2008, there were 7,475 beekeepers that were breeding 137,211 bee colonies. The Carniolan bee is not endangered, but we strive to preserve its original shape.

In cattle breeding, which is the most important livestock industry, the number of inseminations with bulls of the traditional Brown race is rapidly declining, and the number of inseminations with the introduced Holstein breed and introduced meat breeds is increasing. Between 1991 and 2008, the number of first insemination with Brown bulls has decreased by 73%.

An example of a successful breeding work is the Cika cattle breed where the number of first insemination of breeding cows increased 64 times from 1991 to 2008.

The intensified professional work for the conservation of domestic animals breeds and the establishment of gene banks and breeders' organizations have generally improved the situation of endangered breeds. On the other hand, the situation is worse in the case of ordinary traditional breeds not enjoying any special protection regime. Some of them are not able to resist the competitive pressure by more competitive breeds, therefore their number is decreasing.


Methodology

Data for Slovenia:

Objectives summarized by: Act Ratifying the Convention on Biological Diversity (Rio de Janeiro, 1992) (OG RS, No. 30/96), Livestock-Breeding Act (OG RS, No. 18/02) and Rules on preserving biodiversity in livestock breeding (OG RS, No. 90/04).
Original database: CENTRAL CATTLE BREEDING DATABASE; The Register of Breeds with a Zootechnical Assessment; Register of animals and breeders who have applied for agri-environmental payments – breeding indigenous and traditional breeds of domestic animals.
Data administrator: Agricultural institute of Slovenia; Biotechnical Faculty, Zootechnical Department, Public service tasks of gene bank in animal husbandry; Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Food of the Republic of Slovenia, Agency of the Republic of Slovenia for Agricultural Markets and Rural Development.
Data acquisition date for this indicator: The indicator was renewed in November 2009. Original data, which we used, were processed at the primary source on 31 December 2008 (Central CATTLE breeding database), in January 2009 (The Register of Breeds with a Zootechnical Assessment) and in June 2009 (Agency of the Republic of Slovenia for Agricultural Markets and Rural Development).
Methodology and frequency of data collection for the indicator: Central CATTLE breeding database contains data on the breed and the origin of the animals, inseminations, fecundity and production characteristics, transhumance and other. Most of the basic data are collected by the regional institutes of the Chamber of Agriculture and Forestry, and the database is administered by the Agricultural institute of Slovenia. Data are collected and refreshed daily or monthly.
Public service tasks of gene bank in animal husbandry manages the gene bank and keeps The Register of Breeds with a Zootechnical Assessment. The latter is refreshed annually. A detailed description of the situation is covered by the publication Stanje živalskih genskih virov v slovenskem kmetijstvu (The Situation of Animal Gene Sources in Slovenian Agriculture) and by other materials on their website.
Agency of the Republic of Slovenia for Agricultural Markets and Rural Development keeps the register of animals and breeders who have applied for agri-environmental payments – breeding indigenous and traditional breeds of domestic animals. We obtain the data once a year.
Data processing methodology: Breeds and race of domestic animals have been divided according to origin (indigenous, traditional, and introduced) and endangerment (endangered and non-endangered). We summarized the level of endangerment of the breeds from The Register of Breeds with a Zootechnical Assessment, where the level of endangerment is assessed by marks from 1-critical, 2- endangered, 3- vulnerable, 4-at risk and 5- non-endangered (by the Rules on preserving biodiversity in livestock breeding). In the assessment for the purpose of this indicator, we treated the breeds, assessed with marks from 1 to 4 as endangered, and the breeds with the mark 5 as non-endangered. In 2008, we assessed the level of endangerment also for exotic breeds, which are under Slovenian breeding and selection control. Agency of the Republic of Slovenia for Agricultural Markets and Rural Development keeps the register of animals and breeders on the basis of applications for agri-environmental payments – breeding indigenous and traditional breeds of domestic animals. All animals are included there, not only purebred.
Information concerning data quality:
- Indicator advantages and disadvantages: More than 95% of all cattle in Slovenia are registered in the Central cattle breeding database, and principally all herd animals are registered. Data on the number of breeders and animals of each breed, included in the gene bank, in The Register of Breeds with a Zootechnical Assessment after the year 2004 are no longer reliable therefore we did not indicate the data on the number of breeders and animals in the gene bank for later years. We have, however, introduced a new review on the basis of applications for breeding indigenous and traditional breeds of domestic animals, in which all animals are included, not only purebred.
- Relevance, accuracy, robustness, uncertainty:
Reliability of the indicator (archival data): data are reliable.
Uncertainty of the indicator (scenarios/projections): Scenarios and projections are not available.
- Overall assessment (1 = no major comments, 3 = data to be considered with reservation):
Relevance: 1
Accuracy: 1
Completeness over time: 1
Completeness over space: 1

Other sources and literature:
- Results of Dairy and Beef Recording, Slovenia 2008, 2009. Ljubljana, Agricultural institute of Slovenia.
- The State of Farm Animal Genetic Resources in Slovenia, 2003. Domžale: Biotechnical Faculty, Zootechnical Department.