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Maremmana

Maremmana
Maremmana cattle 2008.jpg
Country of origin Italy
Distribution Tuscany, Lazio
Use Dual-purpose, beef and draught
Traits
Weight
  • Male: 850–1000 kg
  • Female: 550–650 kg
Height
  • Male: 150–155 cm
  • Female: 143-150 cm
Coat Grey, dark in males, lighter in females; black skin; black nose
Horn status Horned

The Maremmana is a breed of cattle reared in the Maremma, a former marshland region in southern Tuscany and northern Lazio in central Italy. It is raised principally in the provinces of Grosseto, Rome and Viterbo. Primitive lines of Maremmana cattle may be called Maremmana Primitiva, and are classed as a Tipo Genetico Autoctona e Antica ("ancient and autochthonous genotype").

The origins of the Maremmana breed are entirely obscure. Some sources maintain that the Maremmana descends from the Bos taurus macrocerus of which archeological evidence is preserved in the Etruscan remains of Caere and Vetulonia, with a later admixture of Podolic cattle brought into the Italian peninsula by the Huns and other invaders from the East. Others suggest that the Maremmana is a direct descendant of those Asiatic grey cattle, while still others maintain that it descends directly from the aurochs, Bos primigenius primigenius.

For centuries large herds of Maremmana cattle were raised in the malarial marshlands of the Maremma, herded by the butteri, the mounted herdsmen of the region. Between 1737 and 1859 Tuscany was ruled by the Habsburg Grand-Dukes, who sent Maremmano bulls to their estates in Hungary to improve their Hungarian Grey Cattle. Following the drainage of the marshes in the Battle for Land of the Fascist era, and consequent destruction of the wetland habitat, efforts were made to improve the breed, and in particular to increase its body weight, with considerable success. A herd book for the breed was opened in 1935.


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Wikipedia

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