Animal genetic resources for food and agriculture of animal genetic resources includes diversity at species, breed and within-breed level. Known are currently 8,800 different breeds of birds and mammals within 38 species used for food and agriculture. The main animal species used for food and agriculture production are cattle, sheep, goats, chickens and pigs. In the livestock world, these species are often referred to as "the big five". Some less-utilized species include the dromedary, donkey, bactrian camel, buffalo, guinea pig, horse, rabbit, yak, goose, duck, ostrich,partridge, pheasant, pigeon, and turkey. The history of animal genetic resources begins about 12,000 to 14,000 years ago. The domestication of major
Animal genetic resources for food and agriculture assessments of livestock biodiversity: "The State of the World's Animal Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture" (2007) and "The Second Report on the State of the World's Animal Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture" (2015). Although many diverse species and breeds of animals are currently available for food and agricultural production, there is more work to be done on classifying their risk of extinction: in 2014, 17% of the world's farm animal breeds are at risk of extinction and 58% are of unknown risk status, meaning that the problem may be underestimated. The world's pool of animal genetic resources is