Mertolenga

The Mertolenga is a Portuguese breed of cattle. It is named for the concelho of Mértola in south-eastern Alentejo, bordering with Spain.[3]: 242  In 2003 it was one of thirteen registered Portuguese cattle breeds, constituting approximately 19 per cent of cattle in the country.[4]

Mertolenga
Conservation status
Country of originPortugal
DistributionAlentejo
Useformerly draught, management of fighting bulls; now beef

History

The Mertolenga originated as a colour variant within the Alentejana cattle of Alentejo in south-eastern Portugal, identified in 1873.[3]: 242  It derives in part from the Spanish Berrenda en Colorado.[5]: 302 

The breed region is circumscribed almost exclusively to southern Portugal in the Low Alentejo, and Ribatejo regions.

Characteristics


Use

The Mertolenga was originally used principally for draught work in the rice fields of Alentejo. It was also used to assist in moving and handling fighting cattle, in the same way that the Berrenda en Colorado is used in Spain.[3]: 242  In the twenty-first century it is reared for beef, some of which is marketed as Carne Mertolenga, which has Denominação de Origem Protegida status.[3]: 242 

References
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Mertolenga.
  1. Barbara Rischkowsky, Dafydd Pilling (editors) (2007). List of breeds documented in the Global Databank for Animal Genetic Resources, annex to The State of the World's Animal Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture. Rome: Commission on Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. ISBN 9789251057629. Archived 23 June 2020.
  2. data sheet: Mertolenga / Portugal (Cattle). Domestic Animal Diversity Information System of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Accessed November 2022.
  3. Valerie Porter, Lawrence Alderson, Stephen J.G. Hall, D. Phillip Sponenberg (2016). Mason's World Encyclopedia of Livestock Breeds and Breeding (sixth edition). Wallingford: CABI. ISBN 9781780647944.
  4. Institut national de la recherche agronomique (2003): Animal research, Volumes 52–53, EDP Sciences S.A. (France).
  5. Marleen Felius (1995). Cattle Breeds: An Encyclopedia. Doetinchem, Netherlands: Misset. ISBN 9789054390176.


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