Ciuta sheep

Ciuta
Conservation status
  • FAO (2007): extinct: 68 
  • DAD-IS (2025): at risk/endangered
Country of originItaly
Distributionprovince of Sondrio
StandardAssonapa (in Italian)
Usemeat
Traits
Weight
  • Male:
    35–40 kg: 203 
  • Female:
    30–35 kg: 203 
Height
  • Male:
    45-50 cm: 203 
  • Female:
    40–45 cm: 203 
Wool colourstraw-white
Face colourwhite
Horn statushorned in both sexes

The Ciuta is an Italian breed of small mountain sheep from the province of Sondrio, in Lombardy in northern Italy. About a hundred of the sheep were counted in a census in 1983, and it was later believed to be extinct. A small number were identified in 2001, and the breed was officially recognised in 2018. In 2025 its conservation status was listed as "at risk/endangered", based on a total population of just over 500 head.

History

The Ciuta originates in the mountainous terrain of the Val Masino and the Valchiavenna, in an area where Lombard is spoken; ciuta means "little sheep" in the local language.: 786  It may have common origins with the Ciavenasca breed from the same area.

About a hundred of the sheep were counted in a census in 1983, and there were no further data in the twentieth century; the breed was thought to be extinct, and was listed as such by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations in 2007.: 202 : 68  The breed was not recognised by the Ministero delle Politiche Agricole Alimentari e Forestali, the Italian ministry of agriculture and forestry, and was not among 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.

A small number were identified in 2001,: 202  and in 2018 the Ciuta was officially recognised by the Ministero dell'Agricoltura, della Sovranità Alimentare e delle Foreste. The Regione Lombardia offers a subsidy for those who keep nine or more of the sheep for at least five years.: 11 : 58  In 2025 the conservation status of the breed was listed in DAD-IS as "at risk/endangered", based on a reported total population of 516 head, including 331 breeding ewes and 48 rams in service.

Characteristics

It is a small sheep, the smallest of the Alpine region:: 10  ewes stand some 40–45 cm at the shoulder and weigh from 30 to 35 kg; rams are on average about 5 cm taller and 5 kg heavier.: 203  Horns are present in both sexes; the fleece and face are straw-white.: 203  The sheep are well adapted to the mountain terrain of their area of distribution.: 786 

Use

The Ciuta is raised only for meat; lambs are slaughtered at a weight of 12–15 kg.: 203  The wool is of very poor quality and the yield is low – fleeces weigh about 1 kg. The milk is sufficient only for the lambs.: 203 

References

  1. 1 2 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.
  2. 1 2 Breed data sheet: Ciuta / Italy (Sheep). Domestic Animal Diversity Information System of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Accessed May 2014.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Daniele Bigi, Alessio Zanon (2008). Atlante delle razze autoctone: Bovini, equini, ovicaprini, suini allevati in Italia (in Italian). Milan: Edagricole. ISBN 9788850652594. p.200–201.
  4. 1 2 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.
  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. Archived 21 September 2013.
  6. ↑ Simona Angelini (27 May 2024). DM: disciplinare LG e RA Ovini (supplement) (in Italian). Roma: Ministero dell'Agricoltura, della Sovranità Alimentare e delle Foreste. Accessed July 2025.
  7. 1 2 Chiara Motta (May 2017). La Pecora Ciuta (in Italian). La Newsletter n.54 di R.A.R.E.. Lamezia Terme: RARE - Associazione Italiana Razze Autoctone a Rischio di Estinzione. Accessed July 2025.
  8. ↑ Andrea Massari (21 April 2023). D.G. Agricoltura, alimentazione e sistemi verdi: D.d.u.o. 21 aprile 2023 - n. 5979: Piano strategico nazionale della PAC 2023-2027 Reg. (UE) 2021/2115, art.70: approvazione del bando 2023 per interventi SRA "Impegni in materia di ambiente e di clima e altri impegni in materia di gestione" (in Italian). Bollettino Ufficiale. Milan: Regione Lombarda. Accessed July 2025.