Watchlist

Click on the links below for a profile of the breed.

The Rare Breeds Survival Trust

The Watchlist contains all native breeds of cattle, goats, horses, pigs, poultry and sheep. Conservation criteria determine into which category breeds are listed.

What is a breed

A breed is defined as a group of animals that has been selected by humans to possess a set of inherited characteristics that distinguishes it from other animals within the same species.

For recognition by the Trust a breed must be an original breed, or a native breed of which at least one parent breed is believed to be extinct. Evidence of its continuous documented existence will take the form of written material e.g. newspapers of the time, or historical writings.

An original population is that segment of an original breed, or a native breed of which at least one parent breed is believed to be extinct, which has not suffered unacceptable introgression.

Any breed wishing to be accepted onto the Watchlist should submit a minimum of 25 years (preceding application) of continuous verifiable pedigree data in the form of annual registrations. If electronic records exist, these should be supplied in full. Any supplementary information will be discussed with the Breed Society before use. In addition, all breed analyses will be released only to the Breed Society in the first instance - all subsequent releases must come with Breed Society approval. A breed whose numbers of registered breeding females are estimated by the Trust to be below the Category 6, "Other Native Breeds", threshold will be accepted into the appropriate Watchlist category.

A numerical guide to the 2009 Watchlist categories

Category	Cattle	Goats	Horses	Pigs	Poultry	Sheep
I. Critical	150	100	300	100	100	300
2. Endangered	250	200	500	200	200	500
3. Vulnerable	450	300	900	300	300	900
4. At Risk	750	500	1500	500	500	1500
5. Minority	1500	1000	3000	1000	1000	3000
6. Other native breeds	1500	1000	3000	1000	1000	3000

Geographical Concentration

Category - 75% of the breed population falls within a radius of 12.5km - 20km

I. Critical - radius of less than 12.5km

2. Endangered - radius of 12.5km - 15km

3. Vulnerable - radius of 15km - 17.5km

4. At Risk - radius of 17.5km - 20km

Cattle

Category	Breed\s (Op) = Original Population
1. Critical	Aberdeen Angus (Op); The Chillingham Wild Cattle; Northern Dairy Shorthorn; Vaynol
2. Endangered	Lincoln Red (Op); Whitebred Shorthorn
3. Vulnerable	Irish Moiled
4. At Risk	Gloucester; Shetland
5. Minority	British White; Hereford (Op); White Park
6. Other native breeds	Aberdeen Angus; Ayrshire; Beef Shorthorn; Belted Galloway; Devon; Galloway; Guernsey; Hereford; Highland; Jersey; Lincoln Red; Longhorn; Luing; Red Poll; Shorthorn; South Devon; Sussex; Welsh Black

Sheep

Category	Breed/s
1. Critical	Boreray
2. Endangered	Leicester Longwool; North Ronaldsay
3. Vulnerable	Castlemilk Moorit; Devon and Cornwall Longwool; Hill Radnor; Teeswater
4. At Risk	Balwen; Lincoln Longwool; Manx Loaghtan; Norfolk Horn; Oxford Down; Portland; Soay; Wensleydale; Whitefaced Dartmoor; Whitefaced Woodland
5. Minority	Cotswold; Dorset Down; Dorset Horn; Greyface Dartmoor; Shropshire;
6. Other native breeds	Badgerface Welsh; Beulah; Black Welsh Mountain; Blackface (Scottish); Bluefaced Leicester; Border Leicester; Brecknock Hill; Cheviot; Clun Forest; Dalesbred; Derbyshire Gritstone; Devon Closewool; Exmoor Horn; Hampshire Down; Hebridean; Herdwick; Jacob; Kerry Hill; Llandovery Whiteface Hill; Llanwenog; Lleyn; Lonk; North Country Cheviot; Romney; Rough Fell; Ryeland; Shetland; Southdown; South Wales Mountain; Suffolk; Swaledale; Welsh Hill Speckled; Welsh Mountain; Wiltshire Horn

Sheep Geographical Concentration

Category	Breed/s
1. Critical	Exmoor Horn
2. Endangered	Rough Fell
3. Vulnerable	Herdwick
4. At Risk	Devon Closewool

Pigs

Category	Breed/s
1. Critical	N/A
2. Endangered	British Lop; Middle White
3. Vulnerable	Berkshire; Large Black; Tamworth; Welsh
4. At Risk	British Saddleback
5. Minority	Gloucestershire Old Spots
6. Other native breeds	Large White

Goats

Category	Breed/s
1. Critical	N/A
2. Endangered	Bagot
3. Vulnerable	N/A
4. At Risk	N/A
5. Minority	Golden Guernsey

Horses/Ponies

Category	Breed/s
1. Critical	Cleveland Bay horse; Eriskay pony; Suffolk horse
2. Endangered	Dales pony; Exmoor pony; Hackney horse and pony
3. Vulnerable	Clydesdale horse; Dartmoor pony; Welsh Mountain (Section A) Semi-Feral pony
4. At Risk	Fell pony; Highland pony; Shire horse
5. Minority	N/A
6. Other native breeds	New Forest pony; Shetland pony; Welsh pony & cob

Poultry

Category	Breed/s
1. Critical	Ancona; Andalusian; Brussbar; Campine; Croad Langshan; Hamburgh; Legbar; Minorca; Modern Game; Modern Langshan; Nankin; Rhodebar; Rosecomb; Spanish; Sultan; Sussex (White); Welbar
2. Endangered	Marsh Daisy; Old English Pheasant Fowl; Old English Game; Orpington (Non Buff) ; Scots Grey, Seabright
3. Vulnerable	Cream Legbar, Derbyshire Redcap; Indian Game; Ixworth; Sussex (Coloured)
4. At Risk	Buff Orpington; Dorking; Scots Dumpy; Sussex (Light)
5. Minority
6. Other native

Footnotes

Placement of a breed within Watchlist categories may not be wholly defined by registered breeding female population size (the numeric thresholds serve as a guideline). Population genetic factors and current trends in breed density and distribution are also included in making assessments of endangerment.
Geographical Concentration - some breeds may be numerous but if the majority of animals are found in a small geographical area the breed will be highly vulnerable to disease epidemics. Breeds where 75% of their population falls within a radius of 12.5km to 20km are categorised.
If insufficient information exists to fulfil all current guidelines, the RBST may occasionally otherwise recognise breeds it considers to be of genetic conservation importance.
In addition to the registered flocks of Boreray and Soay sheep, feral populations exist in the western isles of Scotland.
The following breeds of Irish Origin can be found in the UK and historically have been a part of British agriculture: Kerry and Dexter cattle, Galway sheep and the Irish Draught horse and Connemara pony.