This richly illustrated standard work covers all indigenous livestock breeds of the Alpine arc for the first time. The author traveled for two years through various regions of the Alps to visit the original distribution areas and speak with breeders. The reader follows him to the last local shepherd dogs of East Tyrol and Savoy, learns about the smallest cattle of the Alps, the Evolèner cattle of Valais, and discovers astonishing facts about the donkeys of Provence, the last black Alpine pigs, and the rare blue goats of Tyrol. A comprehensive collection of maps, a detailed historical section on the former diversity of alpine livestock breeds, as well as information on breeding history and conservation status complete this overview of 7,000 years of landscape shaping by humans and their livestock. Includes extensive mapping material.