The Italian Mediterranean buffaloorbufala mediterranea italiana is an Italian breedofwater buffalo.[3] It is of the River sub-type of water buffalo and is similar to the buffalo breeds of Hungary, Romania and the Balkan countries. It is the only indigenous water buffalo breed in Italy.[4]: 94 Aherd-book was opened in 1980, and the breed was officially recognised in 2000.
History
There are conflicting hypotheses concerning the origins of the European water buffalo: one, based on fossil bones found in the valleys of the Elbe and the Rhine, is that it descends from the extinct European wild species Bubalus murrensis; others believe that water buffalo were brought to Europe in the sixth and seventh centuries by invading peoples such as the Pannonian Avars, or later, by crusaders returning from Mesopotamia.[5]: 967 Detailed studies of the DNA of European buffalo have not been made.[5]: 967
The buffalo may have been introduced into Italy in Roman times, or during the Barbarian invasions of the Italian peninsula.[4]: 94
In 1979 a national association of buffalo breeders, the Associazione Nazionale Allevatori Specie Bufalina, was formed, and a genealogical herd-book for the buffalo was opened in the following year.[4]: 94 The mediterranea italiana breed was officially recognised in 2000.[6]
In 1953 the total number of buffalo in Italy was estimated at 40,000 head.[4]: 94 The numbers of buffalo reported by the Istituto Nazionale di Statistica in 2012[7] and 2013[8] were, by region:
The mediterranea italiana is black, with dark slate-grey skin and black hooves. White markings may be present on the head, on the lower legs or on the switch of the tail.[4]: 95 Total albinism may occur, but is much less common than in the buffaloes of Asia, where the incidence of albinism is in the range 5–8%.[4]: 95
Bulls commonly stand about 143 cm (56 in) at the withers, with a weight of some 500–600 kg (1,100–1,300 lb); they may reach weights of up to 800 kg. Sexual dimorphism is less marked in domestic buffalo than in cattle; cows stand about 138 cm (54 in), with weights in the range 300–450 kg (660–990 lb).[4]: 95
Use
In the past the buffalo was widely used as a draught animal. Buffalo also kept waterways and drainage channels clear of weed, swimming in the deeper parts and wading in the shallows.[9]
Some are butchered, either for fresh meat or for preserved meat products such as bresaola di bufalo.[4]: 95 In 2012 a total of 118,653 buffalo were slaughtered in Italy, for a total live weight of 47,416,700 kg (104,535,900 lb), approximately 2.7% of the total weight of bovines slaughtered that year. The average carcass yield was 50.6%.[12]
^ abcdefghijDaniele Bigi, Alessio Zanon (2008). Atlante delle razze autoctone: Bovini, equini, ovicaprini, suini allevati in Italia (in Italian). Milan: Edagricole. ISBN9788850652594. p. 92–95.