Conservation status Not at risk Type River Rank Breed | Country of origin Italy Scientific name Bubalus bubalis | |
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Other names Bufala Mediterranea Italiana Distribution throughout Italy, principally Campania Use Dairy, meat; formerly draught Similar Murrah buffalo, NiliRavi, Cinta Senese, Podolica, Romagnola | ||
The Italian Mediterranean (Italian: Bufala Mediterranea Italiana) is an Italian breed of water buffalo. It is of the River sub-type of water buffalo and is similar to the buffalo breeds of Hungary, Romania and the Balkan countries. It is the only indigenous water buffalo breed in Italy. A herd-book was opened in 1980, and the breed was officially recognised in 2000.
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History
The buffalo may have been introduced into Italy in Roman times, or during the Barbarian invasions of the Italian peninsula.
In 1979 a national association of buffalo breeders, the Associazione Nazionale Allevatori Specie Bufalina, was formed, and a genealogical herd-book for the buffalo was opened in the following year. The Mediterranea Italiana breed was officially recognised in 2000.
Use
In the past the buffalo was widely used as a draught animal. Buffalo also kept waterways and drainage channels clear of weed, swimming in the deeper parts and wading in the shallows.
The Mediterranea Italiana is raised and selectively bred principally for the production of the buffalo milk used to make buffalo mozzarella, notably the Mozzarella di Bufala Campana of Campania, which has Denominazione di origine controllata (DOP) status. Other dairy products including burrata, caciotta di bufala, ricotta di bufala, scamorza di bufala, stracchino di bufala, stracciatella di bufala and yoghurt are also made from the milk. Lactation lasts on average 277 days, and usually yields 1600–1800 kg of milk; yields of 2000–3000 kg per lactation are not uncommon. In 2012 a total of 192,455,300 kg of buffalo milk was produced in Italy, about 1.7% of total milk production in that year; the fat content was an average of 7.92%.
Buffalo are butchered both for fresh meat and for preserved meat products such as bresaola di bufalo. In 2012 a total of 118,653 buffalo were slaughtered in Italy, for a total live weight of 47,416,700 kg, approximately 2.7% of the total weight of bovines slaughtered that year. The average carcass yield was 50.6%.
Population
In 1953 the total number of buffalo in Italy was estimated at 40,000 head. The numbers of buffalo reported by the Istituto Nazionale di Statistica in 2012 and 2013 were, by region: