DAD-IS

---

title: "DAD-IS" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["biodiversity-databases", "information-systems", "animals-by-conservation-status", "agricultural-organizations", "food-politics", "food-and-agriculture-organization", "agrarian-politics", "environmental-organisations-based-in-italy"] description: "International animal genetic resources programme" topic_path: "technology/databases" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DAD-IS" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary International animal genetic resources programme ::

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/db/FAO_logo.svg" caption="FAO logo"] ::

DAD-IS is the acronym for the Domestic Animal Diversity Information System, a tool developed and maintained by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations as a part of its programme for management of animal genetic resources for food and agriculture. It includes a searchable database of information on animal breeds.

Overview

The FAO began to collect data on animal breeds in 1982. The first version of DAD-IS was launched in 1996 and the software has been updated several times; the fourth version was launched in 2017.

DAD-IS includes a searchable database of information about animal breeds, the Global Databank for Animal Genetic Resources. It contains information on breed characteristics, uses, geographic distribution and demographics; more than images; and tools for generating user-defined reports; and has a multilingual interface and content. It also provides contact information for the national and regional coordinators for the programme. Data is collected and entered by each country's National Coordinator via web-based data-entry screens available in several languages.

The data is used for reporting on the global status and trends of animal genetic resources, including the data for indicators 2.5.1b (number of animal genetic resources for food and agriculture secured in either medium- or long-term conservation facilities) and 2.5.2 (proportion of local breeds classified as being at risk of extinction) of the Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations.

Breeds in the global databank

The database lists breeds of 37 different mammalian and avian livestock species. In September 2022 it held data on mammalian and avian national breed populations, representing a global total of breeds, of which 595 (7%) were reported as extinct. Local breeds (found in only one region) made up entries, while were transboundary breeds (found in more than one region).

In 2022 a total of local breeds were listed – mammalian and avian – and 555 transboundary breeds (458 mammalian and 97 avian).

Risk status

The FAO uses the information about population sizes to classify breeds according to risk of extinction. The risk classes are: "at risk" ("critical", "critical-maintained", "endangered", "endangered-maintained" and "vulnerable"), "not at risk" and "extinct".

Approximately 27% of breeds (about ) are either classified as being at risk of extinction or are already extinct. A further 54% are classified as unknown risk status; these include breeds for which no population data has been reported in the last 10 years.

Notes

References

References

1. [s.n.] (16 November 2017). [http://www.fao.org/dad-is/infocus/detail/en/c/1062936/ Launch of the 4th version of the Domestic Animal Diversity Information System DAD-IS]. Rome: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Accessed March 2018.
2. [https://www.fao.org/animal-genetics Animal genetics]. Rome: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Accessed April 2023.
3. [Commission on Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture] (2011). [https://www.fao.org/3/ba0054e/BA0054E.pdf Developing the institutional framework for the management of animal genetic resources]. FAO Animal Production and Health Guidelines, number 6. Rome: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. {{isbn. 9789251069721.
4. Commission on Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (2023). [https://www.fao.org/3/cc3705en/cc3705en.pdf Status and Trends of Animal Genetic Resources – 2022]. Rome: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Accessed April 2025.
5. [https://web.archive.org/web/20250411004624/https://unstats.un.org/sdgs/metadata/files/Metadata-02-05-01b.pdf SDG indicator metadata]. New York: Department of Economic and Social Affairs, United Nations. Archived 11 April 2025.

::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::