History
The Skopelos breed originates in the eponymous Skopelos island and the nearby islands of the northern Sporades Group. It was created in the early 1980s through selective breeding, focused on improving the local goat population.
The breed is well adapted to the island’s xerothermic conditions, exhibiting great hardiness and relatively high productivity. It is bred in semi-extensive management systems for its milk and meat. Goats of the Skopelos breed have been imported to mainland Greece and bred for many years, initially in the Magnesia prefecture and later in the rest of the Thessaly region, in Central Greece, the Peloponnese, Macedonia and Thrace.
The ‘Volos Agricultural and Livestock Co-operative of the Skopelos Goat Breed’ now implements the breed improvement program.
Morphological Traits
Skopelos goats are medium to large-sized. Average weight for males is 87 kg and females 56 kg. Height at the withers for males and females is 81 cm and 68 cm, respectively.
Both sexes are horned with saber shaped or moderately spiral horns. The head is triangular with a straight profile and medium-sized erect to horizontal ears. The neck is long and slender. The body is of substantial built with a large belly. The limbs are strong and of moderate length.
The coat is short and smooth. The colour is red with white spots of variable size. A significant percentage of animals is uniformly red.
Population
The Skopelos breed has folloeds an upward trend in the last decade. According to 2019 data by the “Karditsa Center for Animal Genetic Rerources”, the population of purebred Skopelos goats in the country is approximately 11,000. Of these 9,445 females and 950 males are registered in the Skopelos breed herd book. The breed enjoys a ‘Not at Risk’status.
For more information about all the Greek domestic breeds, you can purchase Amalthia's bilingual (Greek-English) book "Greek Domestic Breeds - A Hidden Treasure"