View source for Ukrainian Grey

{{short description|Ukrainian breed of cattle}}
{{EngvarB|date=March 2019}}
{{Infobox cattle breed
| name          = 
| image         = Музей-скансен "Козацькі землі України" (cropped).JPG
| image_size    =
| image_alt     = a greyish-white bull or bullock with large curved horns
| image_caption = In [[Cherkasy Oblast]]
| status        = {{ubl|[[FAO]] (2007): critically endangered{{r|barb|page=117}}|[[DAD-IS]] (2023): at risk/endangered{{r|dad}}}}
| altname       = {{ubl|{{nobreak|{{lang|uk|Сіра українська порода}}, ''sira ukrayin'ska''}}|Ukrainian Steppe{{citation needed|date=March 2019}}|Malorussian|Cherkassian|Black Sea{{r|cabi|page=319}}}}
| country       = Ukraine
| distribution  = Ukraine
| standard      = 
| use           = 
| weight        =
| maleweight    = 900–1050 kg{{r|cabi|page=319}}
| femaleweight  = 580–610 kg{{r|cabi|page=319}}
| height        =
| maleheight    = 137 cm{{r|tiho}}
| femaleheight  = 129 cm{{r|tiho}}
| skincolour    =
| coat          = grey, darker on foreparts
| horn          = lyre-shaped, long
| subspecies    = "taurus"
| note          = 
}}
[[File:Stamps of Ukraine, 2015-25.jpg|thumb|Illustration on a postage stamp]]
The '''Ukrainian Grey''' ({{langx|uk|Сіра українська порода}}, ''sira ukrayin'ska'') is an ancient [[Ukraine|Ukrainian]] [[list of cattle breeds|breed]] of [[Podolian cattle]].{{r|tiho}} It is a hardy breed, and was traditionally used both for meat and for [[Ox|draught power]]. It is similar to other European [[steppe cattle]] breeds such as the [[Hungarian Grey]] and the Italian [[Podolica]].

== History ==

The Ukrainian Grey has been shown by studies of [[microsatellite]] data to be a very ancient one, as are some other related breeds of [[Podolian cattle|Grey Steppe]] cattle such as the [[Serbian Steppe]].{{r|cabi|page=319}} Until the beginning of the twentieth century the Ukrainian Grey was the principal cattle breed of Ukraine.{{r|val|page=36}} It was hardy, frugal and well adapted to the steppe environment, and was used principally as a [[ox|draught animal]]; when heavy horses began to replace oxen in agriculture in the nineteenth century, the breed started to decline.{{r|val|page=36}} A [[herd-book]] was started in 1935, at which time it represented about 6.4% of the total cattle population in Ukraine.{{r|cabi|page=319|tiho}}

A [[conservation (biology)|conservation]] programme was begun in the 1960s, and two conservation herds were established, one at Polivanovka in [[Dnipropetrovsk Oblast]] and another at [[Askania-Nova]] in [[Kherson Oblast]]; in 1982 a small herd of 125 animals was moved from Askania-Nova to [[Cherga]] in the [[Altai Republic]].{{r|val|page=34}} Since 1980 the population reported has usually been approximately {{val|1000}} head, with a high of {{val|1500}} in 1990 and a low of about {{val|700}} in 2004.{{r|dad}} In 2007 the [[conservation status]] of the breed was listed by the [[FAO]] as "critical".{{r|barb|page=117}} In 2011 the total number in three conservation herds was 1188, with 32 bulls and 440 breeding cows.{{r|cabi|page=319}} The Ukrainian Grey is included in the [[Ark of Taste]] of the [[Slow Food Foundation]].{{r|slow}}

== Characteristics ==

In this primitive breed, both cows and bulls have horns, as well as grey hides, which are their namesake.

== Use ==

In the [[USSR|Soviet]] era of Ukrainian history, the Ukrainian Grey was much used for [[cross-breeding]] with other breeds. It contributed to the [[Lebedin (cattle)|Lebedin]],{{r|dmit|page=88}} the [[Red Steppe]],{{r|dmit|page=40}} and the [[Ukrainian Simmental]].{{r|dmit|page=75}} The extinct [[Malakan (cattle)|Malakan]] breed of Turkey derived from the Ukrainian Grey.{{r|fao1995|p=491}}

== References ==
{{commonscat}}
{{reflist|45em|refs=

<ref name=barb>Barbara Rischkowsky, Dafydd Pilling (editors) (2007). [https://web.archive.org/web/20200623201209/http://www.fao.org/3/a1250e/annexes/List%20of%20breeds%20documented%20in%20the%20Global%20Databank%20for%20Animal%20Genetic%20Resources/List_breeds.pdf List of breeds documented in the Global Databank for Animal Genetic Resources], annex to [https://web.archive.org/web/20170110125634/http://www.fao.org/3/a-a1250e.pdf ''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.</ref>

<ref name=cabi>Valerie Porter, Lawrence Alderson, Stephen J.G. Hall, D. Phillip Sponenberg (2016). [https://books.google.it/books?id=2UEJDAAAQBAJ&hl=en ''Mason's World Encyclopedia of Livestock Breeds and Breeding''] (sixth edition). Wallingford: CABI. {{ISBN|9781780647944}}.</ref>

<ref name=dad>[https://dadis-breed-datasheet-ext-ws.firebaseapp.com/?country=UKR&specie=Cattle&breed=Ukrainian%20Grey&lang=en Breed data sheet: Ukrainian Grey / Ukraine (Cattle)]. Domestic Animal Diversity Information System of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Accessed April 2023.</ref>

<ref name=dmit>N.G. Dmitriev, L.K. Ernst (1989). [https://wayback.archive-it.org/all/20091113044601/ftp://ftp.fao.org/docrep/fao/009/ah759e/ah759e.pdf ''Animal genetic resources of the USSR'']. FAO animal production and health paper 65. Rome: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. {{ISBN|9251025827}}. Archived 13 November 2009. Also available [https://web.archive.org/web/20170929123942/http://www.fao.org:80/docrep/009/ah759e/AH759E13.htm here], archived 29 September 2017.</ref>

<ref name=fao1995>Beate Scherf (editor) (1995). [https://www.fao.org/3/x6197e/x6197e.pdf ''World Watch List for Domestic Animal Diversity''], second edition. Rome: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. {{isbn|9251037299}}.</ref>

<ref name=slow>[https://www.fondazioneslowfood.com/en/ark-of-taste-slow-food/grey-ukrainian-cow/ Grey Ukrainian Cow]. Fondazione Slow Food. Accessed March 2019.</ref>

<ref name=tiho>[https://web.archive.org/web/20080519202718/http://www.tiho-hannover.de/einricht/zucht/eaap/descript/231.htm Breed description: Ukrainian Grey]. Department of Animal Breeding and Genetics, School of Veterinary Medicine Hannover. Archived 19 May 2008.</ref>

<ref name=val>Valerii I. Glazko (2001). [https://hrcak.srce.hr/file/256654 Podolic Cattle in the Ukraine and Eastern Territories]. 
''Stočarstvo: Časopis za unapređenje stočarstva'' '''55''' (1): 33–60.</ref>

}}

[[Category:Cattle breeds originating in Ukraine]]

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