The is an endangered breed of small

cattle Cattle (''Bos taurus'') are large, domesticated, cloven-hooved, herbivores. They are a prominent modern member of the subfamily Bovinae and the most widespread species of the genus '' Bos''. Adult females are referred to as cows and adult ...

indigenous to the

Albera Massif The Albera Massif ( ca, Serra de l'Albera) (french: Massif des Albères) is a mountain range located in the south of Pyrénées-Orientales and the north of Catalonia, between France and Spain. It is the main easternmost prolongation of the Pyrenee ...

, which divides

Catalonia Catalonia (; ca, Catalunya ; Aranese Occitan: ''Catalonha'' ; es, Cataluña ) is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a '' nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy. Most of the territory (except the Val d'Aran) lies on the no ...

from France and lies partly in the

comarca A ''comarca'' (, or , or ) is a traditional region or local administrative division found in Portugal, Spain and some of their former colonies, like Brazil, Nicaragua, and Panama. The term is derived from the term ''marca'', meaning a " ...

Alt Empordà Alt Empordà (, "Upper Empordà") is a comarca (county) in Girona, Catalonia, Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = '' Plus ultra'' ( La ...

in the Catalan

province of Girona Girona (; es, Gerona ; french: Gérone) is a province of Spain, in the northeastern part of the autonomous community of Catalonia. It is bordered on the northwest by the province of Lleida, on the southwest by the province of Barcelona, on the n ...

, and partly in the

Vallespir Vallespir (; ) is a historical Catalan comarca in Northern Catalonia, part of the French department of Pyrénées-Orientales. The capital of the comarca is Ceret, and it borders Conflent, Rosselló, Alt Empordà Alt Empordà (, "Upper E ...

in the French

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- ...

Pyrénées-Orientales Pyrénées-Orientales (; ca, Pirineus Orientals ; oc, Pirenèus Orientals ; ), also known as Northern Catalonia, is a department of the region of Occitania, Southern France, adjacent to the northern Spanish frontier and the Mediterranean ...

. The cattle are highly resistant to cold, though susceptible to heat, and are well adapted to the steep terrain of the massif.

History

Although the presence of a cattle breed in the Albera Massif was noted in the nineteenth century, the first description of the Albera dates from 1957. At that time three sub-types were distinguished within the breed: a dark-coated type; a variable paler type; and a third type deriving from

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 ...

with

Braunvieh The Braunvieh ( German, "brown cattle") or Swiss Brown is a breed or group of breeds of domestic cattle originating in Switzerland and distributed throughout the Alpine region. It falls within the "Brown Mountain" group of cattle breeds. The Sw ...

stock. More recently, the types are considered to be two: the Negra, or dark type, and the Fagina, or paler type. In 1999 the Fagina type was found to be genetically closer to the Bruna de los Pirineos breed than to the Albera Negra type. A breeders' association, the Associació de Ramaders de la Vaca de l'Albera, was founded in 2008. The Albera breed received official recognition on 27 July 2011; a

breed standard In animal husbandry or animal fancy, a breed standard is a description of the characteristics of a hypothetical or ideal example of a breed. The description may include physical or morphological detail, genetic criteria, or criteria of athlet ...

was approved, and a

herd book A breed registry, also known as a herdbook, studbook or register, in animal husbandry and the hobby of animal fancy, is an official list of animals within a specific breed whose parents are known. Animals are usually registered by their breeder ...

established. At the end of 2014 the total population was recorded as 763, of which 618 were female and 145 male.

Use and management

The Albera is highly resistant to cold, though susceptible to heat, and is well adapted to the steep terrain of the Albera Massif. The cattle are kept year-round in

semi-feral A semi-feral animal lives predominantly in a feral state but has some contact and experience with humans. This may be because it was born in a domesticated state and then reverted to life in wild conditions, or it may be an animal that grew up i ...

conditions, at an altitude between , foraging for food including the shoots and

mast Mast, MAST or MASt may refer to: Engineering * Mast (sailing), a vertical spar on a sailing ship * Flagmast, a pole for flying a flag * Guyed mast, a structure supported by guy-wires * Mooring mast, a structure for docking an airship * Radio mast ...

of the

beech tree Beech (''Fagus'') is a genus of deciduous trees in the family Fagaceae, native to temperate Europe, Asia, and North America. Recent classifications recognize 10 to 13 species in two distinct subgenera, ''Engleriana'' and ''Fagus''. The ''Engl ...

s of the massif. They have little contact with man, and little productive capacity: cows calve every two years, and produce barely enough milk for the calf; meat yield is very low, of the order of . The cattle are used in

vegetation management Conservation grazing or targeted grazing is the use of semi-feral or domesticated grazing livestock to maintain and increase the biodiversity of natural or semi-natural grasslands, heathlands, wood pasture, wetlands and many other habitats.

: by clearing undergrowth they help to prevent

forest fires A wildfire, forest fire, bushfire, wildland fire or rural fire is an unplanned, uncontrolled and unpredictable fire in an area of combustible vegetation. Depending on the type of vegetation present, a wildfire may be more specifically identi ...

References

{{Cattle breeds of Spain Cattle breeds originating in Spain Cattle breeds originating in France