The Finarda is a breed of large domestic sheep from the regions of Lombardy and Piemonte in northern Italy.[3] It is heavy breed raised mainly for meat, although it also yields 4–6 kg of wool per year. It results from cross-breeding the Bergamasca and Biellese breeds.[4][5] It 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] However, in 2008 the herdbook was empty, and may in fact never have been activated.[4] Most data for the breed dates from 1983.[4]
The conservation status of the breed was listed as "not at risk" by the FAO in 2007.[1] In 2013 total numbers for the breed were not reported;[6] the population is estimated at 5000 head.[5]
^Breed data sheet: Finarda/Italy. Domestic Animal Diversity Information System of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Accessed September 2013.
^ abcDaniele Bigi, Alessio Zanon (2008). Atlante delle razze autoctone: Bovini, equini, ovicaprini, suini allevati in Italia (in Italian). Milan: Edagricole. ISBN9788850652594. p. 218–19.
^ abcLe razze ovine e caprine in Italia (in Italian). Associazione Nazionale della Pastorizia: Ufficio centrale libri genealogici e registri anagrafici razze ovine e caprine. p. 55. Accessed September 2013.
