Apennine is a domesticated breed

Breed

A breed is a group of domestic animals or plants with a homogeneous appearance, behavior, and other characteristics that distinguish it from other animals or plants of the same species. Despite the centrality of the idea of "breeds" to animal husbandry, there is no scientifically accepted...

 of sheep found in Italy

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

. It was found in the 1970s by cross breeding with local breeds and the Bergamasca

Bergamasca (sheep)

The Bergamasca is a breed of domesticated sheep originating from northern Italy. This breed is the foundation of the other Lop-eared Alpine breeds and of Fabrianese, Pavullese, Perugian Lowland and Zakynthos. It is a triple purpose breed raised for their milk, meat and coarse wool...

 and Ile-de-France

Île-de-France (sheep)

The Île-de-France is a breed of sheep native to the French region of Île-de-France near Paris. It was first developed at a French veterinary college in the 1830s through crosses of Dishley Leicester and Rambouillet, and was originally known as the Dishley Merino...

. Although this is a medium-coarse wool

Wool

Wool is the textile fiber obtained from sheep and certain other animals, including cashmere from goats, mohair from goats, qiviut from muskoxen, vicuña, alpaca, camel from animals in the camel family, and angora from rabbits....

 breed, they are raised primarily for their meat.

Characteristics

Both sexes are polled (hornless) and having semi-lopped ears. Mature rams weigh 78 kg (172 lb) are 77 cm (30.3 in) at the withers and has a trunk of 79 cm (31.1 in) long. When mature, ewes weigh approximately 56 kg (123.5 lb) are 69 cm (27.2 in) at the withers and are 73 cm (28.7 in) long. The wool has a diameter of 30 to 35 micrometres. Rams provide about 3.5 kg (7.7 lb) of wool while ewes provide 2.5 kg (5.5 lb).

This breed has been specifically adapted to the Apennine Mountains

Apennine mountains

The Apennines or Apennine Mountains or Greek oros but just as often used alone as a noun. The ancient Greeks and Romans typically but not always used "mountain" in the singular to mean one or a range; thus, "the Apennine mountain" refers to the entire chain and is translated "the Apennine...

, Emilia

Emilia (region of Italy)

Emilia is a historical region of northern Italy which approximately corresponds to the western and north-eastern portions of today’s Emilia-Romagna region...

 and Abruzzo

Abruzzo

Abruzzo is a region in Italy, its western border lying less than due east of Rome. Abruzzo borders the region of Marche to the north, Lazio to the west and south-west, Molise to the south-east, and the Adriatic Sea to the east...

regions of Italy. From 1993 to 2007, the population of the Apennine has declined from greater than 160,000 to less than 1,400.