Maronesa

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Portuguese breed of cattle

title: "Maronesa" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["cattle-breeds-originating-in-portugal", "portuguese-products-with-protected-designation-of-origin"] description: "Portuguese breed of cattle" topic_path: "geography/portugal" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maronesa" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Portuguese breed of cattle ::

::data[format=table title="infobox cattle breed"]

FieldValue
nameMaronesa
imageMaronesa no Alvão derived 2.jpg
image2Maronesa cow 1 (cropped).png
statusFAO (2007): not at risk
altname
countryPortugal
distributionSerra do Marão
standardAssociação de Criadores do Maronês (in Portuguese)
usedraught, meat
maleweight600 kg
femaleweight375 kg
maleheight140 cm
femaleheight130 cm
coatblack with reddish dorsal stripe
hornhorns long, pointing forward and downward
subspeciestaurus
::

| name = Maronesa | image = Maronesa no Alvão derived 2.jpg | image_size = | image_alt = | image_caption = | image2 = Maronesa cow 1 (cropped).png | image_size2 = | image_alt2 = | image_caption2= | status = FAO (2007): not at risk | altname = | country = Portugal | distribution = Serra do Marão | standard = Associação de Criadores do Maronês (in Portuguese) | use = draught, meat | weight = | maleweight = 600 kg | femaleweight = 375 kg | height = | maleheight = 140 cm | femaleheight = 130 cm | skincolour = | coat = black with reddish dorsal stripe | horn = horns long, pointing forward and downward | subspecies = taurus | note =

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/75/Maronesa_no_Alvão.JPG" caption="In the [[Parque Natural do Alvão"] ::

The Maronesa is a traditional Portuguese breed of mountain cattle. Its name derives from that of the Serra do Marão, which lies in the Trás-os-Montes and Douro Litoral regions in the northern part of the country. Its primary use is for draught power.

History

The origin of the Maronesa is not clear and remains controversial. Historical evidence suggests that it derives from cross-breeding of the Barrosã and Mirandesa breeds, and it was considered a cross-breed until about 1835, when it was acknowledged to be a separate breed. Support for descent from Barrosã and Mirandesa comes from a 1993 study regarding the frequency of the 1/29 Robertsonian translocation in the three breeds, where the value for the Maronesa (~40%) is intermediate between that for the Barrosã (65%) and that for the Mirandesa (below 2%).

A study published in 1998 found it to have a substantial genetic distance from the Barrosã, the Mirandesa, and all other breeds of northern Portugal and Galicia, micro-satellite analysis of Portuguese breeds in 2004 grouped it most closely with the Barrosã.

The Maronesa was formerly numerous in the provinces of Douro, Minho and Trás-os-Montes, and particularly in the Serra do Alvão, the , and the Serra do Marão. There is no census data from before 1940, when just over head were counted; in 1955 there were animals registered, and in 1972 there were . Numbers later dropped.

A breeders' association was formed by fourteen breeders in 1988, and a breed register was started in the same year. By 1996 the number of farmers rearing the breed had risen to almost . In 2008, the breed was officially approved by the Direção Geral de Veterinária, and the breed register became a genealogical herd-book.

In 2007, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations listed the conservation status of the Maronesa as "not at risk". At the end of 2016 there were breeding cows registered in the herd-book; the total population was estimated at , and in 2023 there were adult cows and 158 bulls in the hands of 810 breeders Threats to the Maronesa include the falling number of keepers of the breed, their increasing mean age, and changes in the tax regulations.

Characteristics

The Maronesa is traditional rustic cattle breed. It shows morphological similarity to the Portuguese fighting bull, the Brava de Lide, with marked sexual dimorphism: mature bulls are larger than cows, have a more heavily muscled neck, and tend to show more development in the foreparts compared with the rectangular body outline of cows and bullocks.

The usual colour is black with a chestnut dorsal stripe, but many cows are chestnut-brown. There is a pale ring round the muzzle; the muzzle and mucosa are black. The head is broad and short, and the profile straight. The horns extend horizontally from the skull, then point forwards and downwards so that they are almost parallel to the facial profile. The dewlap is well developed. In cows, the udder is covered in fine hair.

Use

The traditional use of the Maronesa was for draught power. Since 1996, beef and veal from Maronesa animals reared by eco-friendly methods in a defined and approximately circular area extending northwards from Vila Real – the area of the Serra do Alvão, the Serra da Padrela and the Serra do Marão – has had DOP status, and may be marketed as "Carne Maronesa DOP". The calving rate is low, at about 75 per 100 cows. Approximately of cows are naturally bred and artificially inseminated.

References

References

  1. 10.1111/j.1365-2052.2004.01089.x {{subscription required.
  2. A. Fernández, J.L. Viana, A. Iglesias, L. Sánchez (1998). [https://dialnet.unirioja.es/descarga/articulo/278657.pdf Genetic variability and phylogenetic relationships between ten native cattle breeds from Galicia and the north of Portugal]. ''Archivos de zootecnia''. '''47''' (177): 61–71.
  3. [http://www.marones.pt/conteudo.php?idm=7 A Raça] (in Portuguese). Associação de Criadores do Maronês. Accessed June 2017.
  4. [http://www.marones.pt/conteudo.php?idm=8 Padrão da Raça] (in Portuguese). Associação de Criadores do Maronês. Accessed June 2017.
  5. [http://www.marones.pt/conteudo.php?idm=2 A Associação] (in Portuguese). Associação de Criadores do Maronês. Accessed June 2017.
  6. [http://www.marones.pt/conteudo.php?idm=6 Livro genealógico] (in Portuguese). Associação de Criadores do Maronês. Accessed June 2017.
  7. 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.
  8. 9781780647944.
  9. [https://dadis-breed-datasheet-ws.firebaseapp.com/?country=PRT&specie=Cattle&breed=Maronesa&external=1&lang=en Breed data sheet: Maronesa / Portugal (Cattle)]. Domestic Animal Diversity Information System of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Accessed August 2025.
  10. [s.n.] (2021). [https://web.archive.org/web/20240119034536/https://www.dgav.pt/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Catalogo-Oficial-Racas-Autoctones-Portuguesas.pdf ''Catálogo Oficial de Raças Autóctones Portuguesas''] (in Portuguese). Lisboa: Confederação dos Agricultores de Portugal; Direção-Geral de Alimentação e Veterinária. Archived 19 January 2024.
  11. Teresa Rangel-Figueiredo, Leopoldo Iannuzzi (1993). [https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1601-5223.1993.00233.x Frequency and distribution of rob (1;29) in three Portuguese cattle breeds]. ''Hereditas''. '''119''' (3): 233–237. {{doi. 10.1111/j.1601-5223.1993.00233.x. {{subscription required.
  12. 9789054390176.
  13. 9789898784261. (online version unpaginated).
  14. [s.n.] (22 August 2013). [http://www.theportugalnews.com/news/marones-cattle-breeders-halved-in-a-decade/29172 Maronês cattle breeders halved in a decade]. ''The Portugal News''. Accessed July 2017.
  15. [https://web.archive.org/web/20231130065150/https://sprega.com.pt/conteudo.php?idesp=bovinos&idraca=Maronesa Bovinos - Raça Maronesa] (in Portuguese). Vale de Santarém: Sociedade Portuguesa de Recursos Genéticos Animais. Archived 30 November 2023.

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