History
Old accounts relay that the breed was traditionally maintained by nomadic pastoralists. They resided in the Katerini plains while spending summers on the northern slopes of the Pieria Mountains, near the village of Katafygio, after which the breed was named. Katafygio sheep were noted for their hardiness to adverse conditions but had a population of only a few thousand and a limited distribution. A small herd of 40 animals was maintained between 1962 and 1971 at the ‘Institute for Agricultural Research’ at Keela- Kozani. The breed was deemed extinct in the 1990s. In 2012 a herd of roughly 200 pure Katafygio Sheep was located by the ‘Amalthia Network’ at Avgerinos, a mountain village in the Kozani prefecture. The herd was then sold to Igoumenitsa (Epirus) where very few pure Katafygio animals are extant.
Morphological Traits
The breed is small-sized, even-woolled and thin-tailed. Live weights for rams are 45-64 kg and ewes 24-35 kg. Height at the withers for rams and ewes is 62-67 cm and 54-61 cm respectively.
The head is triangular with a straight profile. Rams are horned and ewes polled. The chest is narrow and deep. The belly is rounded. The limbs are strong.
Dense wool covers most of the body except the greater part of the head, belly and limbs. It also has a small but dense forelock. he neck has a distinctive small mane due to the fleece’s notable wooliness and its very fine wool hair forming dense cords. Old studies state that Katafygio Sheep have the finest wool of all old Greek autochthonous breeds of B-C class (hair diametre 23-28 μ). The colour is solid white. Very few animals may show spotting, a residue of old crosses with other breeds.
Population
The estimated population is fewer than 50 animals, classifying the breed in the ‘Critical’ status.