Tunisian Barbarin
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| Conservation status | FAO (2007): not at risk[1]: 148 |
|---|---|
| Other names |
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| Country of origin | Tunisia |
| Use | meat |
| Traits | |
| Weight | |
| Height | |
| Wool colour | white |
| Face colour | red or black |
| Horn status | Males horned or hornless, ewes always hornless |
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The Tunisian Barbarin is a Tunisian breed of fat-tailed sheep. It is distributed throughout Tunisia,[3]: 46 and on both sides of the Tunisian border with Algeria, on the Algerian side particularly in the area of Oued Souf.[2][4] Related to the Awassi[5]
History
[edit]The Tunisian Barbarin descends from the Near East Fat-tailed. Two Italian breeds, the Barbaresca Siciliana of Sicily and the Laticauda of Calabria and Campania, are derived from it.[6]: 753
In 1991 the total population in Tunisia was reported to be 5 million;[2] in 1992, a population of 50 000 was reported in Algeria.[4] In 2008, the Barbarin constituted about 60% of the overall sheep population in Tunisia, which was estimated to count approximately 4 million ewes.[3]: 42
Characteristics
[edit]The Barbarin is a coarse-wool breed, and is reared mainly for meat.[6]: 753 It is particularly well adapted to the intense heat of desert areas, and can tolerate brackish water.[4] The coat is white, and the face is either brick-red or black. The black face gives the animal better resistance to sunlight and to photosensitivity caused by eating Hypericum perforatum, "St. John's Wort".[2]
Apart from the two principal types, a further eight sub-populations have been identified within the breed. These include an all-black variant, and two "spectacled" sub-types with a white head and patches of colour only around the eyes and round the muzzle: the black-spectacled type is called sardi, and the red-spectacled one, sagaa.[3]: 43, 46
References
[edit]- ^ Barbara Rischkowsky, Dafydd Pilling (editors) (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: Commission on Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. ISBN 9789251057629. Archived 23 June 2020.
- ^ a b c d e f g Breed data sheet: Tunisian Barbarin/Tunisia. Domestic Animal Diversity Information System of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Accessed June 2017.
- ^ a b c S. Bedhiaf-Romdhani, M. Djemali, A.A. Bello (2008). Inventaire des différents écotypes de la race Barbarine en Tunisie (in French). Animal Genetic Resources Information (43): 41–47.
- ^ a b c Breed data sheet: Tunisian Barbarin/Algeria. Domestic Animal Diversity Information System of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Accessed June 2017.
- ^ "Dictionnaire des Sciences Animales". dico-sciences-animales.cirad.fr. Retrieved 27 December 2017.
- ^ a b Valerie Porter, Lawrence Alderson, Stephen J.G. Hall, D. Phillip Sponenberg (2016). Mason's World Encyclopedia of Livestock Breeds and Breeding (sixth edition). Wallingford: CABI. ISBN 9781780647944.
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