{{Short description|Breed of sheep}} {{Use dmy dates|date=November 2024}} {{use list-defined references|date=September 2013}} {{Use British English|date=September 2013}} {{Infobox sheep breed | name = Corteno | image = | image_alt = | image_size = 280px | image_caption = | status = {{nowrap|FAO (2007): endangered-maintained<ref name=barb/>}} | distribution = Val Camonica | standard = [http://www.assonapa.it/norme_ecc/OVINI-RA_Standard_WEB/Standard-PecoradiCorteno.htm MIPAAF] | type = | use = meat | altname = Pecora di Corteno | country = Italy | maleweight = 70&nbsp;kg<ref name=aspa3/> | femaleweight = 60&nbsp;kg<ref name=aspa3/> | maleheight = 77&nbsp;cm<ref name=aspa3/> | femaleheight = 73&nbsp;cm<ref name=aspa3/> | skincolor = | woolcolor = white | facecolor = white | horns = hornless in both sexes | note = }}

The '''Corteno''' or {{lang|it|'''Pecora di Corteno'''}} is a breed of sheep from the Val Camonica, in the province of Brescia in Lombardy, northern Italy.<ref name=dad/> It is raised in the comune of Corteno Golgi, from which it takes its name, and in the neighbouring comuni of Edolo, Malonno and Paisco Loveno, all lying within the Comunità Montana di Valle Camonica.<ref name=rare/><ref name=bigi/> It is one of the forty-two autochthonous local sheep breeds of limited distribution for which a herdbook is kept by the Associazione Nazionale della Pastorizia, the Italian national association of sheep-breeders.<ref name=aspa/>

==History==

The origin of the Corteno breed is unknown, but is probably shared with that of other lop-eared breeds of the Alpine region such as the Bergamasca, the Biellese and the Lamon. Numbers were estimated at 4000 in 1983, and at about 1600 in 1995.<ref name=bigi/> In 2006 the total number was estimated at 1500, of which 131 were registered in the herdbook.<ref name=rare2/> The conservation status of the breed was listed as "critical" by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations in 2007.<ref name=barb/> In 2013 the number registered for the breed was 295.<ref name=aspa2/>

==Use==

The meat of the Corteno is exceptionally fatty. It is traditionally used to produce Cuz, a local type of preserved meat. Whole carcases of wether mutton are boiled in a cauldron for five or six hours with salt and a little water; the meat is then put up in terracotta jars with more salt and sealed with the mutton-fat.<ref name=bigi/>

==References== <references>

<ref name=aspa>[http://www.assonapa.it/Pubblicazioni/Razze-ovine-caprine-Italia/Razze_Ovine_Caprine_Italia.pdf Le razze ovine e caprine in Italia] (in Italian). Associazione Nazionale della Pastorizia: Ufficio centrale libri genealogici e registri anagrafici razze ovine e caprine. p.&nbsp;66. Accessed September 2013.</ref>

<ref name=aspa2>[http://www.assonapa.it/Consistenze/Cons_razza.asp?Anno=2013&Cod_razza=F8 Consistenze Provinciali della Razza F8 Pecora di Corteno Anno 2013] (in Italian). Associazione Nazionale della Pastorizia: Banca dati. Accessed September 2013.</ref>

<ref name=aspa3>[http://www.assonapa.it/norme_ecc/OVINI-RA_Standard_WEB/Standard-PecoradiCorteno.htm Norme tecniche della popolazione ovina “Pecora di Corteno”: standard della razza] (in Italian). Ministero delle Politiche Agricole, Alimentari e Forestali. Accessed May 2014.</ref>

<ref name=barb>Barbara Rischkowsky, Dafydd Pilling (editors) (2007). [https://web.archive.org/web/20200623201209/http://www.fao.org/3/a1250e/annexes/List%20of%20breeds%20documented%20in%20the%20Global%20Databank%20for%20Animal%20Genetic%20Resources/List_breeds.pdf List of breeds documented in the Global Databank for Animal Genetic Resources], annex to: [https://web.archive.org/web/20170110125634/http://www.fao.org/3/a-a1250e.pdf ''The State of the World's Animal Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture'']. Rome: Commission on Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. {{isbn|9789251057629}}. Archived 23 June 2020.</ref>

<ref name=bigi>Daniele Bigi, Alessio Zanon (2008). ''Atlante delle razze autoctone: Bovini, equini, ovicaprini, suini allevati in Italia'' (in Italian). Milan: Edagricole. {{ISBN|9788850652594}}. pp.&nbsp;214–215.</ref>

<ref name=dad>[http://dad.fao.org/cgi-bin/EfabisWeb.cgi?sid=0b1613ebf16355cf65f6a05b9a65fe25,reportsreport8a_50012325 Breed data sheet: Pecora di Corteno – Di Corteno]. Domestic Animal Diversity Information System of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Accessed September 2013.</ref>

<ref name=rare>Luigi Andrea Brambilla (2005). [http://www.associazionerare.it/images/pdf/pecora%20di%20corteno.pdf Razze zootecniche in pericolo di estinzione: la pecora di Corteno]{{dead link|date=August 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} (in Italian). ''Vita in campagna'' 2005 (3):&nbsp;51.</ref>

<ref name=rare2>J. Errante, L.A. Brambilla, M. Corti, E. Pastore, R. Leonarduzzi (2006). [http://www.associazionerare.it/images/razze/altri_documenti/le%20razze%20ovine%20arco%20alpino%202006.pdf Le razze ovine autoctone a rischio del Valle d'Aosta, Lombardia, Veneto, Friuli Venezia Giulia]{{dead link|date=December 2016 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} (in Italian). Associazione RARE. Accessed May 2014.</ref>

</references>

{{Sheep breeds of Italy}}

Category:Sheep breeds originating in Italy

{{Italy-stub}} {{Sheep-stub}}