The Speckle Park is a modern Canadian

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 ...

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 was developed in the Canadian province of

Saskatchewan Saskatchewan is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Western Canada. It is bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, to the northeast by Nunavut, and to the south by the ...

from 1959, by

cross-breeding 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 ...

stock of the British

Aberdeen Angus The Aberdeen Angus, sometimes simply Angus, is a Scotland, Scottish List of cattle breeds, breed of small beef cattle. It derives from cattle native to the Scottish counties, counties of Aberdeenshire (historic), Aberdeen, Banffshire, Banff, ...

and

Shorthorn The Shorthorn breed of cattle originated in the North East of England in the late eighteenth century. The breed was developed as dual-purpose, suitable for both dairy and beef production; however, certain blood lines within the breed always em ...

breeds; the spotted or speckled pattern for which it is named derived from a single bull with the colour-pointed markings of the British White Park. It is one of only a few

breeds developed in Canada. The Speckle Park was officially recognised as an 'evolving breed' in 1995, and received full 'distinct breed' recognition from the Canadian government in 2006. Some have been exported to Australia, to Ireland and to the United Kingdom. Numbers are low, and in Canada it is an

endangered breed An endangered species is a species that is very likely to become extinct in the near future, either worldwide or in a particular political jurisdiction. Endangered species may be at risk due to factors such as habitat loss, poaching, invasiv ...

History

The Speckle Park was developed in the Canadian province of

from 1959, by

stock of the British

and

breeds; the spotted or speckled pattern for which it is named derived from a single bull with the colour-pointed markings of the British White Park. A

breed association Breed clubs are associations or clubs with activities centered on a single, specific breed of a particular species of domesticated animal. The purpose of the association will vary with the species of animal and the goals and needs of the members ...

, the Canadian Speckle Park Association, was formed in 1985. In 1995 the byelaws of the association received ministerial approval and the Speckle Park was officially recognised as an 'evolving breed'. It received full 'distinct breed' recognition from the Canadian government in 2006. Some have been exported to Australia, to Ireland and to the United Kingdom. In 2020 the Canadian population of the cattle 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 ...

at just over 1400 head; in 2021 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 reported as "at risk/endangered".

Characteristics

Canadian Speckle Park is so named because of the colour pattern of the cattle. They are most often

colour-sided Colour-sided is a colour pattern of domesticated cattle. It is sometimes called lineback. Characteristics The pattern consists of a dark body colour, with white finching along the spine, white under the belly, and often white also over the ...

, black with white spine and underbelly, with speckling to the hips and shoulders. They may also be colour-pointed, white with black points (''i.e.'', black nose, ears and feet); or, less commonly, solid black. Beef from the breed was recently discovered to have a higher than usual amount of omega-3 fatty acids, something credited by Australian academics and chefs as producing particularly tender and flavorsome steak

References

{{reflist, refs= Valerie Porter, Lawrence Alderson, Stephen J.G. Hall, D. Phillip Sponenberg (2016)
''Mason's World Encyclopedia of Livestock Breeds and Breeding''
(sixth edition). Wallingford: CABI. {{ISBN, 9781780647944. Breed data sheet: Speckle Park / Canada (Cattle)
Domestic Animal Diversity Information System of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Accessed December 2021. Breed data sheet: Speckle Park / Australia (Cattle)
Domestic Animal Diversity Information System of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Accessed December 2021. Breed data sheet: Speckle Park / Ireland (Cattle)
Domestic Animal Diversity Information System of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Accessed December 2021. Breed data sheet: Speckle Park / United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (Cattle)
Domestic Animal Diversity Information System of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Accessed December 2021. Carol Ekarius (2008). ''Storey's Illustrated Breed Guide to Sheep, Goats, Cattle and Pigs''. North Adams, Massachusetts: Storey Publishing. {{isbn, 9781603420365 Kim Woods (28 January 2009)

'' The Weekly Times''. Archived 6 July 2011. Cattle breeds originating in Canada

History

Characteristics

See also

References