Pirenaica

The Pirenaica, Basque: Behi-gorri, is a Spanish breed of beef cattle indigenous to the Pyrenees of north-eastern Spain. It is distributed mainly in the autonomous communities of Navarre and the Basque Country, but is present in much of the northern part of the country. It is well adapted to the mountainous terrain and humid climate of the area. It came close to extinction in twentieth century, but is no longer at risk. The origins of the Pirenaica are uncertain. In the past it was the predominant cattle breed of northern Spain. A herd-book was opened in Gipuzkoa in 1905, the first of its kind in Spain; in 1925 a herd-book was opened in Navarre also. However, from about the turn of the twentieth century, large-scale importation of Braunvieh cattle from Switzerland began to threaten the breed; while at first these were pure-bred, they soon began to be cross-bred with the Pirenaica to improve meat and milk yield. In 1912 a census of cattle in Gipuzkoa found about 50000 head, of which less than 40% were pure-bred Pirenaica stock; the remainder were Braunvieh and Braunvieh-Pirenaica crosses, in roughly equal proportions. In 1954 there were 18000 head, but by the 1970s the Pirenaica was close to extinction.