Ciuta sheep

With support of the Veterinary Authority (ASL) of the province of Sondrio and the regional animal breeding association (APA) the Ciuta conservation project could be presented at an orientation meeting on 3 April 2014 to the Valley dwellers of Val Masino. The project met with an unexpectedly great interest. All 85 seats in the large community hall were occupied, 34 more people had standing to participate. Following this, a great number of directly interested people signed up for participation in the project. Among them were people who offered an original animal still for sale, others who wanted to join in with their pristine animals in the "Ciuta Club" and those who wanted to take over a new nucleus group. Before Easter, seven new breeding groups were formed. Thus, the PPM own stock of breeding animals and the number of farmers involved in the project doubled (incl. five newly added private holders) quadrupled to 16. The provisional herd register of Pro Patrimonio Montano now includes about 60 own animals, the animals of the private holders still need to be evaluated and incorporated.