History
The sheep of Florina-Pelagonia acquired both its names from the homonymous west Macedonia region. The broader Pelagonia region surrounds the town of Florina and extends further to the north where the breed was traditionally kept. The breed’s original source is possibly Monastirion (Bitola). Other sources attribute its origins to the extinct breed of Chalkidiki Sheep and through the latter’s genetic links, implicitly to the breeds of Glossa-Skopelos and Kymi sheep. Nonetheless, an older study showed that the Florina-Pelagonia sheep had a closer genetic-phylogenetic relationship to Serres Sheep than to Kymi Sheep. The breed owes its preservation to herds formed in 1968 at the “Giannitsa Livestock Institute” and in 1970 at the ‘Agricultural Research Station’ at Keela-Kozani. At a later point herds were also maintained by the ‘Komotini Agricultural Research Station’ and the Florina Technical Educational Institute. The characteristics and productivity of Florina-Pelagonia sheep are well known because herds of the breed were maintained for many years in state research institutes. Members of the breed are frugal, resistant to diseases and can well withstand challenging climatic conditions. Their low milk productivity and the importation of other Greek and foreign breeds to its traditional breeding grounds had an adverse effect. Its population has shrunk and is now threatened with extinction. Currently, only the ‘Giannitsa Livestock Institute’ and a handful of breeders keep the breed. Nonetheless, Florina-Pelagonia sheep, given their good meat productivity, can profitably utilize the mountainous and semi-mountainous pastures of the region.
Morphological Traits
The breed is medium to large sized, even-woolled, and thin-tailed. Average weight and height at the withers for rams is 76 kg and 72 cm respectively. The ewes’ corresponding weight and height at the withers are 60 kg and 67 cm.
Most rams have large, strong spiral horns. About 1/3 of ewes have small, slender horns. The horns are light coloured with a dark stripe running their length. The head is conical, relatively large with a slightly convex profile. The ears are of medium length carried on the sides. The chest is rather narrow. The limbs are medium to rather long. The tail is low set and covered with dense wool while being rather long and wide at the base for a thin-tailed sheep.
Wool covers the entire body. The head, legs and tail are free of wool. The colour is uniform. The body is white. Most animals have a black ring around their eyes. Many have black patches on the ears and/or mouth and rarely on their legs. Some animals can be solid white.
Population
In recent years (2018-2019) a significant conservation effort has been made by the Thessaloniki CAGR. Today the herd book contains 891 animals, classifying the breed as ‘Vulnerable’.