The Aspromontana or is an Italian breed of domestic goat indigenous to the mountain massif of the Aspromonte – for which it is named – in the province of Reggio Calabria, in Calabria in southern Italy. It is raised only in the province of Reggio Calabria, mainly in the Aspromonte, in the to the north-east, and in the Ionian coastal areas of the province, and particularly in areas of Grecanic culture. While the breed is thought to originate on the Aspromonte, it may have been influenced by the various other goat breeds, including the Abyssinian goat, the Maltese, and a type known as "Tibetan" with long silky hair, whose importation to Calabria in the early twentieth century is well documented.
The Aspromontana is one of the forty-three autochthonous Italian goat breeds of limited distribution for which a herdbook is kept by the Associazione Nazionale della Pastorizia, the Italian national association of sheep- and goat-breeders. At the end of 2013 the registered population was variously reported as and as .
Characteristics
The Aspromontana is of medium size, standing about at the withers; average weight is for billies and for nannies. The head is small, with a straight profile. Horns, beard and tassels are usually present in both sexes. The horns are lyre-shaped, larger in the male, and often broad and flattened at the base. The hooves are dark slate-grey.
The hair is long, rough in billies and somewhat smoother in nannies, with a soft undercoat. The coat colour is highly variable: red (phaeomelanic) is most common, but bi-coloured red-and-white, black-and-white or brown-and-red, solid grey or brown and belted variants also occur.
The annual fertility rate (percentage of matings that result in a birth) is 98%; average age of first parturition of 15 months.
Breeding goals are to improve prolificity (twinning rate) and the yield and quality of meat and milk. Some conformational defects, such as crop ear, are tolerated, while others, such as a short coat or a coarse or heavy head, are not.
The goats are well adapted to the harsh climatic and environmental conditions of their mountain habitat.
Use
The Aspromontana is a dual-purpose goat, raised both for meat and for milk. It is a frugal and hardy breed, and has an important role in vegetation management and maintenance of the mountain pastures of the Aspromonte massif, thus contributing to fire prevention, soil stability and the conservation of local biodiversity and the ecosystem.
The minimum milk yield of Aspromontana nannies is in 150 days for primiparous, in 160 days for secondiparous and in 210 days for pluriparous animals. Reported averages are, respectively, in 150 days, in 160 days, and in 210 days. The milk averages 3.95% fat, 3.57% protein and 4.63% lactose, and is used to make local cheeses of many kinds. These include, among others, caciotta, cacioricotta, canestrato dell'Aspromonte, caprino dell'Aspromonte, caprino di Limina, giuncata di capra, musulupu dell'Aspromonte, mixed-milk cheeses such as caciocavallo di Ciminà, and various kinds of fresh, baked, smoked or salted ricotta. Many of these have PAT status as traditional products of the area.
Consumption of goat's meat, particularly that of adult nannies, is markedly higher in the province of Reggio Calabria than anywhere else in Italy. Calabrian goat's meat has PAT status, and there are numerous traditional local goat's-meat dishes. Aspromontana kids weigh about at birth, and reach at 30 days.
References Consistenze Provinciali della Razza 89 Aspromonte Anno 2013 (in Italian). Associazione Nazionale della Pastorizia: Banca dati. Archived 29 November 2014.
Norme tecniche della popolazione caprina "Capra dell'Aspromonte": standard della razza (in Italian). Associazione Nazionale della Pastorizia. Archived 29 November 2014.
Barbara Rischkowsky, Dafydd Pilling (editors) (2007). List of breeds documented in the Global Databank for Animal Genetic Resources, annex to: The State of the World's Animal Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture. Rome: Commission on Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. . Archived 23 June 2020.
Daniele Bigi, Alessio Zanon (2008). Atlante delle razze autoctone: Bovini, equini, ovicaprini, suini allevati in Italia (in Italian). Milan: Edagricole. .
Valerie Porter, Lawrence Alderson, Stephen J.G. Hall, D. Phillip Sponenberg (2016). Mason's World Encyclopedia of Livestock Breeds and Breeding (sixth edition). Wallingford: CABI. .
Breed data sheet: Capra dell'Aspromonte / Italy (Goat). Domestic Animal Diversity Information System of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Accessed July 2025.
Strutture Zootecniche (Dec. 2009/712/CE - Allegato 2 - Capitolo 2) (in Italian). Ministero delle Politiche Agricole Alimentari e Forestali. Section I (e). Archived 4 December 2013.
Giuseppe Piccione, Vincenzo Monteverde, Maria Rizzo, Irene Vazzana, Anna Assenza, Alesssandro Zumbo, Pietro Paolo Niutta (2014). Reference intervals ofsome electrophoretic and haematological parameters in Italian goats: comparison between Girgentana and Aspromontana breeds. Journal of Applied Animal Research. 42 (4):434-439. . .
Emilio Gatto (5 June 2014). Quattordicesima revisione dell'elenco nazionale dei prodotti agroalimentari tradizionali (in Italian). Gazzetta Ufficiale. 141 (20 June 2014), supplement: 7.