The only positive pig news is for the smartly marked Saddleback, with an increase in both keepers (by 12%) and breeding sows (16%). ‘The UK’s brilliant array of rare and native poultry is under serious threat,’ comments RBST trustee Tom Davis, who runs the community charity Mudchute Park and Farm in east London. ‘There is a clear decline in active breeding programmes and, when breed populations are so low, losing flocks can be devastating. ‘Some of these rare native breeds have provided communities with food, fibre and power for centuries,’ says RBST chief executive Christopher Price. One of the rarest of the rare, the Vaynol cow, has stabilised in numbers and Irish Moiled dams have risen by 8%.