Cause for Celebration but also Concern in the New RBST Watchlist

Rare Breeds Survival Trust Chief Executive Christopher Price discusses the latest findings in this year's RBST Watchlist

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In April, we published the new RBST Watchlist – our annual situation report for the UK's native livestock and equine breeds.

While there is much to be positive about, with a number of breeds showing stable or improving performance, the trends for several other breeds reflect the challenges currently faced in the rare breeds conservation effort. Sadly, four breeds have been moved from 'At Risk' to the most urgent 'Priority' category on the Watchlist due to declines in their position.

• White Park cattle

• Lincoln Red Original Population cattle

• Boreray sheep

• Soay sheep

The striking White Park cattle are an irreplaceable part of the UK's heritage: with a story reaching back to the movements of Celtic peoples, they are a key living connection to an earlier, wilder Britain. Historically, the White Park was a triple-purpose breed used for milk, meat, and draught work. As farming intensified the breed declined and only four herds remained in the 1960s - the severe threat to the White Park's existence was a key driver for the formation of RBST in 1973, and we chose the breed for our logo. Over the past five decades the White Park breed had been brought back from the brink to a more stable (but still rare) position. Today the breed is primarily raised for its high-quality beef and its suitability for conservation grazing, helping to manage and restore natural habitats, but a sharp fall in White Park cattle birth registrations and simultaneous decrease in Effective Population Size (which is a measure of genetic diversity, not a total population count) are major concerns for the breed's future and the breed has been moved to the Watchlist's 'Priority' category.