The farm animal genetic resources of Turkey: sheep – II – crossbreed and extinct genotypes/breeds

Abstract

Biodiversity richness indicates the economic and genetic wealth of a country. Turkey is like a bridge between Europe and Asia; hence it has been used by traders, travellers or intruders for centuries which resulted with the existence of considerably different kinds of domestic animals. Although some of the genotypes are extinct or are crucially under the risk of extinction, the domestic livestock resources of Turkey have not been adequately appraised. On one hand new breeds are created by human beings, on the other hand much more breeds are getting extinct because of them. The creation of new breeds contributes to human welfare, but the extinction of native breeds exacerbates human life. In this study domestic livestock biodiversity and their conservation in Turkey is intended to be explained by giving brief examples about the sheep breeds of Turkey.