Azpi Gorri
# Azpi Gorri

The Azpi Gorri is a traditional Basque breed of domestic goat. It originates in the historical Basque Country, and is the only recognised goat breed of that $area.^{:360}^{:171}$ It is distributed in the northern part of the province of Álava and in southern Bizkaia, with a few herds in the autonomous community of Navarre.

## History

The Azpi Gorri is a traditional breed of the Basque Country. By the late twentieth century it had become gravely endangered, with an estimated breeding population of $100.^{:173}$ In 1997 it was added to the Catálogo Oficial de Razas de Ganado de España, the national register of livestock breeds of the Ministerio de Agricultura, Pesca y $Alimentación,^{:171}$ and in 2001 it was included in the official list of Basque breeds of the País $Vasco.^{:171}$

A breed society, the Euskal Herriko Azpi Gorri Elkartea, was formed in 1999; it has kept the herd-book since $2007.^{:173}$

Also in 2007, the Azpi Gorri was added to the Ark of Taste of the Slow Food $Foundation.^{:174}$ The Ark of Taste also lists the Azpi Zuri, a colour variant with white lower parts rather than the characteristic red of the standard breed.

## Characteristics

The Azpi Gorri is of medium size. The coat is short and lustrous black with chestnut-red markings on the underbelly, the underside of the tail, the legs and the $face^{:360}$ – the Basque words azpi gorri mean approximately "with reddish lower parts". The facial profile is straight, and the ears are held more or less $horizontally.^{:360}$ The horns are arched in nannies, more corkscrew-shaped in billies; both sexes occasionally have $tassels.^{:173}$

