Telemarkfe

Telemarkfe
Conservation status
  • FAO (2007): endangered-maintained[1]: 86 
  • DAD-IS (2024): endangered-maintained[2]
Other names
  • Telemark
  • Telemark Cattle
Country of originNorway
Distributionsouthern Norway
StandardLandslaget for Telemarkfe (in Norwegian)
Usedairy[3]: 311 
Traits
Weight
  • Male:
    700 kg[2]
  • Female:
    500 kg[2]
Height
  • Male:
    140 cm[2]
  • Female:
    121 cm[2]
Coatcolour-sided red with white finching[4]
Horn statususually horned in both sexes
  • Cattle
  • Bos (primigenius) taurus

The Telemarkfe or Telemark is a traditional Norwegian breed of dairy cattle. It originated in, and is named for, the county of Telemark in central southern Norway. In the second half of the nineteenth century it spread – with official encouragement – to most of the eastern and southern part of the country.[3]: 311  In the twenty-first century it is an endangered breed, with a total population of fewer than 600 head.[2]

History

[edit]
A man in uniform standing between two horned cows which reach about to the height of his hip
Engraving from 1877
black-and-white photograph of three colour-sided cattle on mountain pasture
In Nesland, 1958

The Telemarkfe is a traditional population of dairy cattle of the county of Telemark in central southern Norway. It was first characterised as a breed in 1856, when it was the subject of a cattle show organised in Kviteseid by Johan Lindeqvist, a Swede who had been appointed state agronomist for Norway.[5][6][7][8] The cattle were shown again at the first national agricultural show in Seljord in 1866 – an event that developed into the annual Dyrsku'n.[8][7]

Lindeqvist had found that the Telemarkfe grazed well in fjord, forest and mountain areas and provided a good quantity of milk; he believed that it could be used to improve mountain cattle in other parts of the country.[7][5] During the second half of the nineteenth century it spread – partly as a result of official encouragement – beyond the confines of Telemark and Oppland to most of eastern and southern Norway.[3]: 311  A breed society was established in 1895 and a herd-book was started in 1926.[9]: 113 [2] A breeding station was set up in 1946 in Bø in Midt-Telemark, where artificial insemination of cows was available.[7] Other breeding centres were established in several areas, among them: Hallingdal in the county of Buskerud; Hardanger and Voss in Hordaland, now part of Vestland; and Tynset in Hedmark and Valdres in Oppland, now both in Innlandet.[5]

The driving force behind the work was the state agronomist Johan Lindeqvist, originally from Sweden. After the war, Norwegian red cattle were introduced into Norway. Traditional cow breeds then suffered a major drop off in numbers. In the 1980s, there were steps put into place to protect rare breeds. In 2006, there were 400 animals of this breed in Norway.[10]

Bull semen is conserved for over fifty bulls; semen collected from four new bulls is added to the reserve each year.[11]

Characteristics

[edit]

Telemark cattle are red, with a white colour on the back in the shape of a cross. Sometimes, cows are also white on the underside. The face is usually mixed in colour. Most Telemark cattle have horns. The Telemark is primarily a milking breed, and does not grow very large. Animals do not usually weigh more than 500 kilograms (1,100 lb).[12]

References

[edit]
  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. ^ a b c d e f g Breed data sheet: Telemarkfe / Norway (Cattle). Domestic Animal Diversity Information System of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Accessed September 2024.
  3. ^ a b c 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. ^ Breed description: Telemark. Department of Animal Breeding and Genetics, School of Veterinary Medicine Hannover. Archived 27 September 2007.
  5. ^ a b c Telemarksfe (in Norwegian). Ås: Norsk Institutt for Skog og Landskap. Archived 22 June 2008.
  6. ^ Conservation of Endangered Cattle Breeds Native to Norway. Ås: Norsk Institutt for Skog og Landskap. Archived 18 June 2013.
  7. ^ a b c d Landslaget for Telemarkfe: Historie (in Norwegian). Seljord: Landslaget for Telemarkfe. Archived 18 April 2003.
  8. ^ a b Johan Lindeqvist, in: Jon Gunnar Arntzen, Knut Helle (editors) (2003). Norsk Biografisk Leksikon, volume 6: Lassen – Nitter (in Norwegian). Oslo: Kunnskapsforlag. ISBN 9788257307349.
  9. ^ Valerie Porter, Ian Lauder Mason (2002). Mason's World Dictionary of Livestock Breeds, Types, and Varieties (fifth edition). Wallingford: CABI. ISBN 085199430X.
  10. ^ "Telemark cattle - Countryside and landscape". Archived from the original on 22 June 2008. Retrieved 26 June 2009.
  11. ^ Norwegian Cattle Breeds. North European Cattle Diversity Project. Archived 19 March 2009.
  12. ^ "National site for Telemark cattle". Archived from the original on 30 November 2007.

Further reading

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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Telemarksfe.
  • Jan Erik Kjær. Bondens lykke, kongens gull.


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