This indicator shows breeds and races of domestic animals, trends 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 to indigenous, traditional and introduced. The situation in cattle is presented by the number of first inseminations by bulls of particular breeds, which is a good indicator of the number of breeding females, and the use of breeding males. Regarding the origin, the breeds and races of domestic animals were divided into native, traditional and introduced, and regarding endangerness, the species were divided into endangered and non-endangered.

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

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), with an aim to significantly reduce 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 the strong competitiveness in a global market of livestock products, the breeding of indigenous and traditional breeds of cattle, pigs and poultry is becoming less attractive. The most interesting breeds on global level present an additional pressure. In Slovenia, the share of introduced animal breeds and their cross-breeds has been constantly increasing. In addition, the locally adapted traditional breeds are strongly influenced by the use of breeding material from other populations. The genes for the currently most interesting commercial properties are being introduced, and therefore the traditional breeds are losing the adjustment to local conditions.

In 2018, Slovenia one race and 190 different breeds of traditional and locally adapted, indigenous and introduced domestic animals were bred, namely 12 breeds of horses, 26 breeds of cattle, 5 pig breeds, 6 sheep breeds, 4 goat breeds, 58 hen breeds, 3 turkey breeds, 14 duck breeds, 9 geese breeds, 50 breeds and 2 lines of rabbits and a race of Carniolan bee. Among them, only 12 were indigenous and 14 traditional breeds and 3 endangered unspecified breeds, while others (161) were introduced. Most introduced breeds and lines we find with hens (53), rabbits (52) and cattle (22). There are at least 4 endangered breeds even among introduced breeds, – 2 lines of rabbits, 1 horse breed and 1 breed of pigs where the Slovenian selection is being carried out. One indigenous and numerous introduced breeds of dogs are also bred.

The level of endangerness of locally adapted breeds is high. 11 out of 14 traditional breeds are endangered. The endangered traditional breeds include 4 breeds of hens, 3 breeds of pig, 2 breeds of goats, 1 horse breed and 1 sheep breed. The level of endangerness of indigenous breeds is even higher. Out of 12 indigenous breeds of domestic animals, 11 were endangered in 2018 – 4 sheep breeds, 3 breeds of horses, and one breed of hens, cattle, pigs and goats each. The only indigenous breed of dogs is engangered as well. The breeds and races where the adaptation to natural conditions is the strongest are the most successful with defying the introduced breeds. Carniolan bee is the only unendangered indigenous breed. Jezersko-Solčava sheep breed has become endangered. The conservation of endangered native breeds requires careful breeding and financial support to the breeders 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 set-up of the breeding organizations which connected the farmers and supporters of individual breeds.

The trends and the number of breeders and indigenous breeds of farm animals were estimated on the basis of applications for agri-environmental payments - breeding of indigenous and traditional breeds of domestic animals. In 2019, Slovenia had 11 indigenous breeds and one race of domestic animals, namely 4 breeds of sheep (6,589 animals), 3 breeds of horses (2,336 animals), and one breed of cattle (1,993 animals), hens (929 animals), goats (457 animals), pigs (1,365 animals), and the race of Carniolan bee. In the period 2008-2019, the number of indigenous farm animal breeds increased by 158% in hens, 141% in pigs, 140% in cattle and 59% in goats. The number of animals decreased by 27% in horses and 14% in sheep. In 2019 Cika cattle breed had the highest number of breeders (312), while only 5 breeders bred Istrian Pramenka sheep. The number of breeders in the period 2008-2019 decreased, mostly for Slovenian Cold blood horse (-70%) At the same time, there was an increase of interest in breeding the indigenous breed - Styria hen - from 2 breeders in 2008 to 14 breeders in 2019. The small number of breeders poses one of the greatest risks of losing the breed.

Slovenia is the original area of the Carniolan bee race. The Carniolan bee is not endangered, but we strive to preserve its original shape. In period from 2017-2019, there were more than 10,000 beekeepers that had 167,000 bee colonies in 2016.

In cattle breeding, which is the most important livestock industry, the number of inseminations with bulls of the traditional breeds Simmental and more Brown Swiss race is rapidly declining, and the number of inseminations with the introduced Holstein breed and introduced beef breeds is increasing. Between 1991 and 2018, the number of first insemination with Brown Swiss bulls has decreased by 73% and Simmental breed by 46%

An example of a successful breeding work is the Cika cattle breed where the number of first insemination of breeding cows increased 65 times from 1991 to 2018, but their share is still less than 1%.

The intensified professional work for the conservation of domestic animals breeds and the set-up of gene banks and breeders' organizations have generally improved the situation of endangered breeds, or at least not deteriorated as rapidly as before. On the other hand, the situation is worse in the case of traditional breeds not enjoying any special protection scheme. Some of them are not able to defy the pressure of more competitive breeds, therefore their number is decreasing.