Priority Listing

of Rare Breeds in New Zealand

      To indicate which breeds come high in the Rare Breeds Conservation Society’s priorities as in need of conservation, a number of breeds have been singled out and marked with a small red star () on the Website’s » List of Rare and Minority Breeds page. At this stage no attempt has been made to categorize these breeds into ‘degrees’ of rarity – those that fall into one of the following four categories have simply been allotted conservation priority status.

1. All breeds of New Zealand feral origin – at least until we know more of their genetics.

2. New Zealand landrace breeds.

3. Breeds of historical origin which have been here continuously since their introduction – especially those that have played a significant role in the development of New Zealand’s farming industry.

4. Breeds recently imported into New Zealand that are now listed as rare or minority in their country of origin. (Some of these may have been here historically but have died out and been reintroduced.)

      [For a useful discussion on breed definitions, see » Types of Breeds.]

      The following list contains those breeds initially accorded priority according to the above criteria (some are not yet on the Website). This list will be revised and ‘fine tuned’ as further information becomes available.