A multidisciplinary framework for adding value to the indigenous cattle breed of Cyprus

The officially recognized Cyprus cattle breed is the island’s only native cattle breed, having evolved and adapted over millennia to local environmental conditions and rural traditions. During pre-industrial times, the island’s indigenous cattle were exclusively used in agricultural production and for the transportation of people and goods. Beyond their utilitarian roles, cattle held a special position in the island’s cultural sphere, as reflected in iconography, food taboos, human-cattle cohabitation, and the integration of cattle into major religious celebrations. The mechanization of agriculture along with the increasing demand for high-yielding breeds, followed by large-scale urban development, resulted in the sharp decline of the breed’s population, leading to its current endangered status. ‘Animals REsilient in TIme’ (ARETI) is a research project that aimed to decipher the economic, cultural and genetic history of the island’s indigenous cattle breed from antiquity to the present. Through a multidisciplinary research framework that integrates evidence from zooarchaeology, history, genomics, ethnography and folklore studies, the project deepened our understanding of the breed’s unique genetic traits and long-standing connection to people and local environments, strengthening the prospects for its valorization, conservation and sustainable use. In this article, we outline the project’s multidisciplinary framework and propose that similar approaches could be extended to support the conservation of other endangered animal breeds in Cyprus, the Eastern Mediterranean and beyond.