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Pusteria -cow and calf- Italy/Austria

Pustertaler Sprinzen
(most common name)
(transboundary/brand name)

local/other name (English):
• Pustertal
local/other name (German):
• Pustertaler
• Pusstataler
local/other name (Italian):
• Barà
• Pusterer Sprinzen
• Razza Pusteria
historical breed name (German):
• Pustertaler Schecken

The Pustertaler Sprinzen began in the eastern part of the Puster Valley — which is in the autonomous province of South Tyrol in northern Italy (Provincia Autonoma di Bolzano – Alto Adige in Italian; Autonome Provinz Bozen – Südtirol in German).

The entire Puster Valley (Val Pusteria in Italian) lies in an east-west direction between Lienz in East Tyrol, Austria and Rio di Pusteria near Brixen in South Tyrol, Italy. Tyrol (also, the Tyrole) is a historical region found in the Alps of northern Italy and western Austria.

The Pustertaler Sprinzen is believed to have evolved from a combination of Eringer, Tux-Zillertal, Simmental, Pinzgauer, and local blond and red cattle. The Vosges has also played a part in some Austrian herds.

The Pustertaler Sprinzen is bred in Austria and Italy — with Italy having the largest population — and Germany (as an import population).

As of 2021, the following population counts are listed in DAD-IS:
2020 - 3,000 (Austria)
2018 - 7,536 (Italy)
2019 - 139 (Germany)

(German) schecken = patches of color
(German) sprinzen = speckles of color

This page was last updated on: 2023-05-19


You can also go to:

My Daily Cow® Austria and Italy and read about other Italian and Austrian cattle breeds.

The Cow Wall® A-Z Cattle Breed Picture Reference to see other breeds of cattle in the world.