The Calves, Cows, Pigs and Broods of the Aquitaine region

The Bordelaise cow, with its characteristic black and white markings, was the first to be saved by the Conservatoire.

In the 1890s, it was recognized as one of the best dairy cows. The Bordelaise cow was widely spread across France before competition from industrial breeds saw its numbers decline. The breed was thought to have died out in 1960.
Some more were discovered in Aquitaine between 1985 and 1990, which made it possible to reconstitute the breed.

In 2018, it received the National Heritage Foundation Award for animal agro-biodiversity and in 2020 there were over 300 cows.

The Marine Cow was also saved by the Conservatoire.
Native to the Aquitaine coastline, they lived freely in the dunes and the marshes until the end of the 19th century. Lively and restless, these are the cows that gave rise to the famous Landes bull race.

With the planting of pine forests for the exploitation of resin, these cows were gradually hunted and slaughtered and they disappeared in the 1950s.
A small domesticated herd was discovered in 1987, which made it possible for the Marine cow population to be reconstituted.

Perfectly suited to moors, marshes, and undergrowth, they are now used for the ecological management of large natural areas. In 2020, there were 250 cows spread over 15 sites, across a total of 1,500 hectares.

The Landais sheep is another breed that almost disappeared with the logging of the Landes de Gascogne region.
Until the 19th century, they were vital for the local population, who used their dung to fertilize the sandy soil and their wool to make clothing.
Back then there were several hundred thousand of them, from the Bordeaux region to the Pyrenees.

They were almost extinct by the 1970s, with only a few of them left in the Landes de Gascogne Regional Nature Park.
In 2020, there were around 50 breeders sharing more than 3,000 sheep between them. These are mainly used for ecopastoralism.
They contribute to the ecological management of the natural environment by grazing. In doing so, they contribute to preventing forest fires in the Landais region.

The Landais hen also comes from the sandy areas of the Landes and Gironde.
The hens live around the Landes farms, in the airials (communal farmland) or in the undergrowth. They are found in the trees and in the traditional perched henhouses of the Landes. Living in these semi-wild conditions, the hens lay many eggs.

The hens' numbers are low due to this way of life dying out, but their numbers are nevertheless currently increasing as a result of conservation measures that have been taken. There are now around 150 hens and 20 farms.

The Pyrenean Goat is a heritage breed that used to live throughout the Pyrenees mountain range.
Its milk is enjoyed in the big cities and even in Paris where, up until World War II, farmers from Bearn used to go with their animals to provide fresh milk directly.

In the second half of the 20th century, the number of goats declined sharply, partly as a result of the rural exodus but also because of the elimination of goats in forested areas and competition from selected breeds.
The Pyrenean goat was considered almost extinct in the early 1990s.
The breed is now increasing again, largely thanks to its hardiness, which enables it to survive on mountainous or overgrown land.

Jean-Michel Lecorre is a sheep farmer. He is in charge of leading and caring for the Conservatoire des Races d'Aquitaine's herd, which includes 500 sheep and goats and is dedicated to the conservation of breeds and the maintenance of forests.

The preservation of these breeds also entails the conservation of the indigenous heritage, like this sheepfold in Saint-Aubin-du-Médoc.
Built in 1869, it has been completely restored by the Conservatoire, with support from the Cultural Heritage Foundation.

It is now used for the Landes sheep, the long-standing breed for which this traditional sheepfold was originally built, in order to collect the manure.