Rare Breeds Canada Rare Breeds Canada Rare Breeds Canada (RBC) is a Canadian non-profit organization dedicated to preserving rare breeds of Canadian livestock. The organization was founded in 1987. It focuses on the rare breeds of livestock originating in Canada, including varieties of horses, sheep, pigs, chickens and cows. RBC publishes a Rare Breeds Priority List that separates livestock breeds into "critical", "endangered", "vulnerable", "at risk" and "recovering" categories. To assist with the preservation of these breeds, RBC coordinates a breeding program which uses host farms to manage small breeding groups which are used to build new flocks of animals. As the new
Animal genetic resources for food and agriculture sustainability of a breed and therefore to the potential for successful conservation activities." The Pantaneiro cattle of Brazil are only one example of many at risk of extinction. Despite the importance of animal genetic resources, their diversity has been continually decreasing over time. "Factors as causes of genetic erosion: One of the greatest threats to livestock diversity is pressure from large-scale commercial production systems to maintain only high-output breeds. Recent molecular studies have revealed that the diversity of today's indigenous livestock populations greatly exceeds that found in their commercial counterparts. Climate change and its impact on livestock is being studied.