Bruna dels Pirineus

The Bruna dels Pirineus, Spanish: 'Bruna de los Pirineos', is a breed of cattle from the south-eastern Pyrenees, in the northern part of Catalonia. It derives from cross-breeding of local cattle with Swiss Braunvieh stock imported in the nineteenth century through France and through the Val d'Aran. It is distributed throughout the northern comarcas of Catalonia, Alta Ribagorça, Alt Urgell, Berguedà, Cerdanya, Pallars Jussà, Pallars Sobirà, Ripollès, Solsonès and Val d'Aran.[4]:67 The Bruna dels Pirineus constitutes about 80% of the beef herd of Catalonia.[4]:66

Bruna dels Pirineus
Bruna dels Pirineus cows in the comarca of Ripollès
Conservation statusFAO (2007): not at risk[1]:106
Other namesSpanish: Bruna de los Pirineos[2]
Country of originSpain
Distributionnorthern Catalonia
StandardDepartament d'Agricultura, Ramadería i Pesca (in Spanish)
Use
  • Formerly: triple-purpose, meat, milk and draught
  • Now: mainly meat
Traits
Weight
  • Male:
    1050 kg[3]
  • Female:
    600 kg[3]
Height
  • Male:
    142 cm[3]
  • Female:
    140 cm[3]
Coatgreyish-brown
Horn statushorned
  • Cattle
  • Bos (primigenius) taurus
Bruna dels Pirineus cows near Bescaran in the comarca of Baixa Cerdanya

History

The Bruna dels Pirineus derives from cross-breeding of local cattle of the Catalana (now extinct), the Pallaresa and the Pirenaica breeds with Swiss Braunvieh stock imported in the nineteenth century through France and through the Val d'Aran. The first written documentation of these importations is from 1922, but there is evidence going back to 1880 of imports to help satisfy the demand for milk for butter manufacture in Cerdanya.[4]:67

In the 1970s specialised meat breeds, Charolais and Limousin, were imported to Catalonia, but did not adapt successfully to the mountain environment. From the 1980s breeding of the Bruna dels Pirineus, which is well adapted to that environment, began to be oriented more towards meat production.[5] A number of local breeders' associations were formed; a federation of these breeders' associations, the Federació Catalana de la Raça Bruna dels Pirineus, was formed in 1990. In the same year a breed standard was approved and a herd book was established by the Generalitat de Catalunya.[4]:67 The Bruna dels Pirineus breed received official national recognition on 7 November 1997, when it was classified among the breeds "at risk of extinction" by the Ministerio de Agricultura, Alimentación y Medio Ambiente, the Spanish ministry of agriculture.[4]:67

At the end of 2014 the total population was recorded as 13,542, of which 12,421 were female and 1121 male.[6]

Use and management

The Bruna dels Pirineus, like the Braunvieh, was initially a triple-purpose breed, used as a draught animal and for milk and meat production. It later became dual-purpose, for meat and dairy use, and more recently has become predominantly a meat breed.[4]:67 It constitutes about 80% of the beef herd of Catalonia.[4]:66

Management is generally extensive, with transhumance from the valleys to higher mountain pasture in the summer months.[7]

References
  1. Barbara Rischkowsky, D. Pilling (eds.) (2007). List of breeds documented in the Global Databank for Animal Genetic Resources, annex to The State of the World's Animal Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture. Rome: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. ISBN 9789251057629. Accessed January 2016.
  2. Breed data sheet: Bruna de los Pirineos/Spain. Domestic Animal Diversity Information System of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Accessed January 2016.
  3. Raza bovina Bruna de los Pirineos: Datos Morfológicos (in Spanish). Ministerio de Agricultura, Alimentación y Medio Ambiente. Accessed January 2016.
  4. Miguel Fernández Rodríguez, Mariano Gómez Fernández, Juan Vicente Delgado Bermejo, Silvia Adán Belmonte, Miguel Jiménez Cabras (eds.) (2009). Guía de campo de las razas autóctonas españolas (in Spanish). Madrid: Ministerio de Medio Ambiente y Medio Rural y Marino. ISBN 9788449109461.
  5. Raza bovina Bruna de los Pirineos: Datos Generales (in Spanish). Ministerio de Agricultura, Alimentación y Medio Ambiente. Accessed January 2016.
  6. Raza bovina Bruna de los Pirineos: Datos Censales (in Spanish). Ministerio de Agricultura, Alimentación y Medio Ambiente. Accessed January 2016.
  7. Raza bovina Bruna de los Pirineos: Usos y sistema de explotación (in Spanish). Ministerio de Agricultura, Alimentación y Medio Ambiente. Accessed January 2016.

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