Diversity Makes All the Difference

Diversity Makes All the Difference. The Solution: Saving Rare Breeds. , Tracking Rare Breeds , Founded in 1977, the American Livestock Breeds Conservancy is the primary umbrella group focused on tracking and preserving rare livestock breeds in the U.S. This group assigns a level of threat to each breed, depending on how rare they are. For the breeds we have here, you can see the ALBC threat level on the breed identity signs at the exhibit. For more about the American Livestock Breeds Conservancy: www.albc-usa.org, Maintaining Rare Breeds , Today, many small-scale farmers and networks of enthusiasts are working to save vanishing breeds. The Philadelphia Zoo is part of this effort, maintaining rare breeds of goats, sheep and chickens., Farm in a Freezer , To preserve the vital genetic diversity within rare breeds, the SVF Foundation in Newport, Rhode Island, maintains a frozen collection of genetic material from breeds at risk. As of 2012, about 65,000 samples from 28 breeds of rare cattle, sheep and goats have been preserved in liquid nitrogen at 321°F below zero. Basically an insurance policy, this genetic material can be tapped in case a breed goes extinct., [Caption:] , Our herd of rare Arapawa goats here in KidZooU was generously provided courtesy of SVF.