Supporting native breeds

During the first seven decades of the 1900s, 26 native breeds of livestock became extinct in Britain, not to mention the many varieties of poultry. Breeds such as Goonhilly ponies and Rhiw sheep will never be seen again grazing their native pastures. Since the formation of the Rare Breeds Survival Trust in 1973 no native breeds have been lost! There is no government support to the RBST and most activities are funded through members, legacies and donations. To secure the continued existence and viability of the UK's native farm animal genetic resources the Trust launched the Rare Breeds National ReGENEration Appeal and are half way to their target of 2.5 million pounds. Their aim is to collect semen from 25 males from each of the domestic farm species currently listed by the RBST, to represent the widest genetic diversity available in the current population. Of the semen collected 55% goes into a permanent national archive stored by the Trust, 30% is stored for use in conservation breeding programmes and 15% is available to livestock owners and stored, free of charge, by the Trust.