Frisa Valtellinese

The Frisa Valtellinese is an indigenous breed of domestic goat from the province of Sondrio, in Lombardy in northern Italy. It is raised throughout the Valtellina, from which its principal name derives, in the Val Malenco and the upper Val Masino in the Rhaetian Alps, and in the Valchiavenna. It may also be called the Frontalasca, for the village of Frontale, a frazione of the comune of Sondalo in the Val di Rezzalo, or the Rezzalasca for that valley. The name Frisa comes from its frisature, or Swiss markings.^[2]

Frisa Valtellinese

Conservation status	FAO (2007): endangered^[1]
Other names	Frontalasca Rezzalasca Frisa Frisa Nera
Country of origin	Italy
Distribution	Province of Sondrio, Lombardy
Standard	MIPAAF
Use	milk, also meat^[2]
Traits
Weight	Female: 65–70 kg^[2]
Height	Female: 79–82 cm^[2]
Wool color	black or dark, with Swiss markings
Face color	dark with white eye-stripes
Horn status	usually horned^[3]
Tassels	sometimes present^[3]
Goat Capra hircus

History

The Frisa Valtellinese shares common characteristics and origins with the Swiss Bündner Strahlenziege, or Grisons Striped, breed from the Swiss canton of the Grisons to the north-east, and with similar goats in the canton of Ticino immediately to the north of Sondrio.^[2] It also shows phenotypic similarity to the British Alpine breed, but does not share its history. The breed was officially recognised and a herd-book established in 1997.^[2]

The Frisa Valtellinese is one of the forty-three autochthonous Italian goat breeds of limited distribution for which a herdbook is kept by the Associazione Nazionale della Pastorizia, the Italian national association of sheep- and goat-breeders.^[4][5] At the end of 2013 the registered population was variously reported as 2810^[6] and as 2432.^[7]

Use

The milk yield per lactation of the Frisa Valtellinese is 271 ± 115 litres for primiparous, 343 ± 183 L for secondiparous, and 369 ± 180 L for pluriparous, nannies.^[8] The milk averages 3.23% fat and 3.04% protein.^[2] The viulìn de càvra de Ciavéna, a goat's meat prosciutto, is made with the meat.

The breed shows promise for vegetation management for the purpose of fire prevention.^[2]

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 June 2014.
2. Daniele Bigi, Alessio Zanon (2008). Atlante delle razze autoctone: Bovini, equini, ovicaprini, suini allevati in Italia (in Italian). Milan: Edagricole. ISBN 9788850652594. p. 356–57.
3. Norme tecniche della popolazione caprina "Frisa Valtellinese o Frontalasca": standard della razza (in Italian). Associazione Nazionale della Pastorizia. Accessed June 2014.
4. (in Italian). Ministero delle Politiche Agricole Alimentari e Forestali. Section I (e). Archived 4 May 2014.
5. Le razze ovine e caprine in Italia (in Italian). Associazione Nazionale della Pastorizia: Ufficio centrale libri genealogici e registri anagrafici razze ovine e caprine. p. 99. Accessed June 2014.
6. Consistenze Provinciali della Razza 46 Frisa Valtellinese Anno 2013 (in Italian). Associazione Nazionale della Pastorizia: Banca dati. Accessed June 2014.
7. Breed data sheet: Frisa valtellinese/Italy. Domestic Animal Diversity Information System of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Accessed June 2014.
8. Lorenzo Noè, Alessandro Gaviraghi, Andrea D'Angelo, Adriana Bonanno, Adriana Di Trana, Lucia Sepe, Salvatore Claps, Giovanni Annicchiarico, Nicola Bacciu (2005). (in Italian); in: Giuseppe Pulina (2005). L' alimentazione della capra da latte. Bologna: Avenue Media. ISBN 9788886817493. p. 381–435. Archived 5 October 2014.