The Chortai, sometimes spelt Chortaj, is a

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 ...

sighthound Sighthounds (also called gazehounds) are a Dog type, type of hound dog that hunts primarily by sight and speed, unlike scent hound, scent hounds, which rely on scent and endurance. Appearance These dogs specialize in pursuing prey, keeping it ...

from

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

and

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

. The Chortai is said to resemble a cross between a

Greyhound The English Greyhound, or simply the Greyhound, is a dog breed, breed of dog, a sighthound which has been bred for coursing, greyhound racing and hunting. Some are kept as show dogs or pets. Greyhounds are defined as a tall, muscular, smooth-c ...

and a short haired

Borzoi The Borzoi or Russian Hunting Sighthound is a Russian breed of hunting dog of sighthound type. It was formerly used for wolf hunting; until 1936, the breed was known as the Russian Wolfhound. Etymology The system by which Russians over the ...

, being a quite heavily built running hound but nevertheless displaying typical sighthound features. The Chortai is believed to have been developed from the now extinct Krymstaja and Gorskaja breeds and was a favourite breed of the Russian nobility; one was exhibited at the

London Zoo London Zoo, previously known as ZSL London Zoo or London Zoological Gardens and sometimes called Regent's Park Zoo, is the world's oldest scientific zoo. It was opened in London on 27 April 1828 and was originally intended to be used as a colle ...

in 1829 as a Russian Greyhound although otherwise they have rarely been seen outside their own country. After the

October Revolution The October Revolution, also known as the Great October Socialist Revolution (in Historiography in the Soviet Union, Soviet historiography), October coup, Bolshevik coup, or Bolshevik revolution, was the second of Russian Revolution, two r ...

remnants from the abandoned kennels of the nobility were widely crossed with local hound varieties producing what is now known as the South Russian Steppe Hound, despite this the breed received recognition from the Soviet authorities at the Cynological Congress in Moscow in 1952. The breed's numbers steadily declined under the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

to the point of near extinction, but with the collapse of the Soviet Union there has been renewed interest in pre-revolutionary breeds within Russia and attempts have been made to rescue the breed. The Chortai is typically hunted in the traditional Russian manner, with the hunters mounted on horseback accompanied by a brace of hounds and a raptor.

References

Sighthounds Dog breeds originating in Russia Dog breeds originating in Ukraine {{dog-stub

See also

References