Lamon

Lamon

The Lamon, also known by the names of Lamonese or Feltrina, is an Italian sheep (Ovis aries Linnaeus, 1758), originally from the province of Belluno, with a main aptitude for the production of meat.

Systematics –
From a systematic point of view it belongs to:
Eukaryota domain,
Kingdom Animalia,
Phylum Chordata,
Mammalia class,
Order Artiodactyla,
Suborder Ruminantia,
Bovidae family,
Subfamily Caprinae,
Genus Ovis,
O. aries species,
Breed Lamon.

Geographic and Area Distribution –
The Lamon is an Italian breed bred in Veneto, in the province of Belluno, and precisely in the territory of the municipalities of Lamon, Sovramonte, Fonzaso, Sospirolo, S. Gregorio nelle Alpi and Sedico.
The area is known as Feltrino, from the town of Feltre, and the breed may also be referred to as Feltrina. In ancient times it was widely spread in the Veneto and Trentino regions, up to Lombardy in the province of Mantua.

Origins and History –
The Lamon is a native sheep breed of this interregional area and is raised, as mentioned, in various localities and in the village of the same name, Lamon, in the province of Belluno, famous above all for the cultivation of the bean of the same name.
Since ancient times, this breed of sheep had been bred in Trentino in the Primiero and Vanoi areas and in the nearby Belluno area: the evolution of breeding had then made them prefer more productive breeds but less suitable for the environment.
This breed derives from local subjects improved through crossbreeding with subjects of the Bergamasca breed. Of the three Venetian sheep breeds (Alpagota, Lamon and Brogne) it is the one that has undergone the most contamination over the years. It was once considered a triple purpose breed, with a predominance for meat production.
The breed standard was defined in 1942.
Sheep breeding in the valleys between Belluno and Trentino has ancient origins; until after the Second World War, most of the inhabitants of these valleys used to own sheep from which they obtained meat but also wool which was sold and then tanned in the spinning mills of the Treviso area.
Unfortunately the number of sheep of Lamon in the last 50 years has drastically reduced, due to the abandonment of the mountain areas and therefore of the profession of shepherd. The number of breeds decreased dramatically in the second half of the 20th century, from 10,000 in 1960 to 177 in 2000 (in 2013 the total numbers for the breed were 240).
For this reason it is considered a breed in danger of extinction even if, recently, some projects have been conceived aimed at repopulating these mountain areas and recovering the native breeds which have a considerable importance in safeguarding the territory.
It should be remembered that in the 1950s an attempt was made to increase the size by crossbreeding with the Bergamo area; there were also some crossings with the Padovana and the now extinct Trentino. The Lamon is one of forty-two local indigenous sheep breeds with limited distribution for which a herd book is kept by the Associazione Nazionale della Pastorizia, the Italian national association of sheep breeders.
Among the recovery projects for this breed, it should be noted that in 2009, with a view to conserving biodiversity in Val Canali, understood in its broadest meaning and therefore also including the breeds of domestic animals, the Park of Paneveggio Pale di San Martino set up a breeding center for the “Lamon” sheep, a local breed at risk of extinction.
The initial small flock consisted of three heads, two females and one male, coming from the breeding of the “A. Della Lucia” in Feltre, partner of the project.

Morphology –
The Lamon is a large breed of sheep with a height at the withers approximately equal to the length of the trunk.
The skin is quite thin, supple and oily.
Body, neck and limbs up to the knees and hocks are white.
The head is large and hornless in both sexes. The ears and neck are quite long.
The trunk is long and deep and the limbs rather high with excellent aplombs.
The head has two brown bands that descend from the nape of the cheeks to the mouth and other small spots of the same color in the other parts.
The ears have small spots, like the limbs below the knees and hocks.
The language is slate.
The average height at the withers is about 75 cm in males and about 70 cm in females.
The average weight is around 80 kg in males and 67 kg in females.

Productive attitude –
The Lamon sheep is essentially a meat breed, even if in the past it had a triple purpose: milk, meat and wool.
Wool production is 5 kg (in fat) in adult rams and 3.8 kg in ewes.
It is a robust breed, with a lively temperament and an excellent grazer.
It is also a tireless walker and resistant to adversity, the Lamon sheep was mainly used in transhumant breeding and had no shelter in summer or winter. Once considered, as mentioned, to have a triple purpose, today it is bred mainly for the production of meat (above all castrated), in small flocks, whose breeding system provides for stabling in the winter period, grazing in the areas adjacent to the farms in spring and autumn and sometimes the pasture in summer.

Guido Bissanti

Sources-
– Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
– Daniele Bigi, Alessio Zanon , 2010. Atlas of native breeds. Cattle, horses, sheep, goats, pigs reared in Italy, Edagricole-New Business Media, Bologna.

Photo source:
– https://www.parcopan.org/reintroduzione-della-pecora-di-razza-lamon/