The Aubrac is a French

breed A breed is a specific group of domestic animals having homogeneous appearance (phenotype), homogeneous behavior, and/or other characteristics that distinguish it from other organisms of the same species. In literature, there exist several slig ...

of domestic

beef cattle Beef cattle are cattle raised for meat production (as distinguished from dairy cattle, used for milk production). The meat of mature or almost mature cattle is mostly known as beef. In beef production there are three main stages: cow-calf opera ...

. It originates on the

Plateau de l'Aubrac Aubrac is a small village in the southern Massif Central of France. The name is also applied to the surrounding countryside, which is properly called L'Aubrac in French. The Aubrac region has been a member of the Natura 2000 network since August 200 ...

in the

Massif Central The (; oc, Massís Central, ; literally ''"Central Massif"'') is a highland region in south-central France, consisting of mountains and plateaus. It covers about 15% of mainland France. Subject to volcanism that has subsided in the last 10,0 ...

in central southern France, from which it also takes its name. It has a wheat-coloured coat and dark hooves, switch, muzzle and eyes.

History

The Aubrac originated in the early nineteenth century on the

in the

, which spans the modern

département In the administrative divisions of France, the department (french: département, ) is one of the three levels of government under the national level (" territorial collectivities"), between the administrative regions and the communes. Ninety ...

s of the

Aveyron Aveyron (; oc, Avairon; ) is a department in the region of Occitania, Southern France. It was named after the river Aveyron. Its inhabitants are known as ''Aveyronnais'' (masculine) or ''Aveyronnaises'' (feminine) in French. The inhabitan ...

, the

Cantal Cantal (; oc, Cantal or ) is a department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of France, with its prefecture in Aurillac. Its other principal towns are Saint-Flour (the episcopal see) and Mauriac; its residents are known as Cantalians (fren ...

and the Lozère, in the

regions In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as zones, lands or territories, are areas that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and the interaction of humanity and t ...

Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes (ARA; ; frp, Ôvèrgne-Rôno-Ârpes; oc, Auvèrnhe Ròse Aups; it, Alvernia-Rodano-Alpi) is a region in southeast-central France created by the 2014 territorial reform of French regions; it resulted from the merger of Au ...

and Occitanie. Some limited

cross-breeding A crossbreed is an organism with purebred parents of two different breeds, varieties, or populations. ''Crossbreeding'', sometimes called "designer crossbreeding", is the process of breeding such an organism, While crossbreeding is used to main ...

took place in the twentieth century: with the Mézine, now extinct, 1935–1945; with the Maraîchine, 1945–1955; and with the

Parthenais The Parthenaise is a French cattle breed. It is named for the town of Parthenay in the département of Deux-Sèvres, in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region of western France. It was formerly a triple-purpose breed, raised for milk, meat and draug ...

e, 1955–1975. The conservation status of the Aubrac is not at risk. In 2014 the population was reported at about 170 000 head.

Characteristics

The Aubrac is robust, frugal, fertile and long-lived, and is well adapted to the mountain environment of the Massif Central. Temperamentally, it is noted for its equable and gentle disposition. It is reported to be resistant to trypanosomiasis, the "sleeping-sickness" transmitted by

tsetse flies Tsetse ( , or ) (sometimes spelled tzetze; also known as tik-tik flies), are large, biting flies that inhabit much of tropical Africa. Tsetse flies include all the species in the genus ''Glossina'', which are placed in their own family, Glos ...

. The Aubrac has a uniformly wheaten coat, with black skin and black hooves, black muzzle, tongue, switch, and natural openings. Bulls may carry darker markings to the coat. The horns are lyre-shaped and tipped with black. Bulls stand about at the

withers The withers is the ridge between the shoulder blades of an animal, typically a quadruped. In many species, it is the tallest point of the body. In horses and dogs, it is the standard place to measure the animal's height. In contrast, cattle a ...

and weigh about ; cows stand some and weigh about .

Use

The Aubrac is raised for principally for meat. Bullocks weigh about when weaned. Some milk from Aubrac cows is used in the production of

Laguiole Laguiole (; ''La Guiòla'' in Languedocien) is a commune in the Aveyron department in southern France. It is known for its Laguiole cheese, which has an '' Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée'' (label of guaranteed origin), and as the birthpl ...

cheese; it is hoped that this proportion may reach 10%.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Aubrac (Cattle) Cattle breeds originating in France Cattle breeds