The Appenzell, , , is a rare and endangered indigenous

breed A breed is a specific group of breedable 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 seve ...

of white

domestic goat The goat or domestic goat (''Capra hircus'') is a species of goat-antelope that is mostly kept as livestock. It was domesticated from the wild goat (''C. aegagrus'') of Southwest Asia and Eastern Europe. The goat is a member of the family Bo ...

from Switzerland. It originates in the "half-cantons" of the historic

Appenzell Appenzell () was a cantons of Switzerland, canton in the northeast of Switzerland, and entirely surrounded by the canton of St. Gallen, in existence from 1403 to 1597. Appenzell became independent of the Abbey of Saint Gall in 1403 and entered ...

region,

Appenzell Ausserrhoden Canton of Appenzell Ausserrhoden ( ; ; ; ), in English sometimes Appenzell Outer Rhodes, is one of the Canton of Switzerland, 26 cantons forming the Switzerland, Swiss Confederation. It is composed of twenty municipalities. The seat of the gove ...

and

Appenzell Innerrhoden Canton of Appenzell Innerrhoden ( ; ; ; ), in English sometimes Appenzell Inner-Rhodes, is one of the 26 cantons forming the Swiss Confederation. It is composed of five districts. The seat of the government and parliament is Appenzell. It is ...

, and has spread into the neighbouring Canton of St. Gallen.

History

The Appenzeller originates in the "half-cantons" of the historic

region,

and

. A goat-breeders' association, the Ziegenzuchtgenossenschaft Appenzell, was founded in Innerrhoden in February 1902, and another, the Ziegenzuchtgenossenschaft Urnäsch, in Ausserrhoden in 1914. The Schweizerischer Ziegenzuchtverband, the Swiss federation of cantonal goat breeders' associations, runs a conservation and recovery project for the Appenzeller which includes financial support for breeders and a controlled breeding programme. In 2007 the

conservation status The conservation status of a group of organisms (for instance, a species) indicates whether the group still exists and how likely the group is to become extinct in the near future. Many factors are taken into account when assessing conservation ...

of the breed was listed by the

FAO The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations; . (FAO) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations that leads international efforts to defeat hunger and improve nutrition ...

as "endangered-maintained". In 2005, the Appenzell breed represented approximately 4.2% of the total registered Swiss goat population of about head. At the end of 2013 a population of 1900–2000 was reported to

DAD-IS DAD-IS is the acronym for the Domestic Animal Diversity Information System, a tool developed and maintained by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations as a part of its programme for management of animal genetic resources for ...

; in 2021 the population was reported to be between and , with 77 breeding males. In the 1920s, the Appenzeller was

cross-bred A crossbreed is an organism with purebred parents of two different breeds, varieties, or populations. A domestic animal of unknown ancestry, where the breed status of only one parent or grandparent is known, may also be called a crossbreed though ...

with the

Saanen Saanen (; Highest Alemannic: ''Saanä'') is a municipality in the canton of Bern in Switzerland. It is the capital of the Obersimmental-Saanen administrative district. History The village was first mentioned in 1228 as ''Gissinay''. In 1340 it ...

to create the composite Zürcher Ziege in the area of

Zurich Zurich (; ) is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich. , the municipality had 448,664 inhabitants. The ...

and

Thurgau Thurgau (; ; ; ), anglicized as Thurgovia, and formally as the Canton of Thurgau, is one of the 26 cantons forming the Swiss Confederation. It is composed of five districts. Its capital is Frauenfeld. Thurgau is part of Eastern Switzerland. I ...

. A

herd-book A breed registry, also known as a herdbook, studbook or register, in animal husbandry, 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 breeders wh ...

was started in 1926; in 1938, the remaining stock was merged into the Appenzeller. The Appenzeller also contributed to the development of the

Toggenburg Toggenburg is a region of Switzerland. It corresponds to the upper valley of the River Thur (Switzerland), Thur and that of the Necker (river), Necker, one of its afluents. Since 1 January 2003, Toggenburg has been a constituency (''Wahlkreis ...

Characteristics

The Appenzeller is completely white, with a medium-long to long hair coat. It is usually polled; horned animals are accepted. The milk yield averages just over per year.

References

Goat breeds Dairy goat breeds Goat breeds originating in Switzerland {{bots, deny=Citation bot