Editing Guernsey cattle (section)

== History ==
[[Image:Guernsey cow or calf lying on the ground, ca 1941-42.jpg|thumb|A Guernsey cow in the [[United States]], {{Circa|1941}}]]
The Guernsey was bred on the [[Channel Islands|Channel Island]] of [[Guernsey]]; it is first documented in the nineteenth century, and its origins are unknown.{{r|luff|page=1}} Cattle were brought to the island in the Middle Ages for [[ox|draught work]].{{r|cabi|page=192}} It has been suggested that the Guernsey derives from cattle imported from the French mainland – [[brindle]]d cattle from [[Normandy]], and wheaten stock similar to the [[Froment du Léon]] of [[Brittany]]. There may also have been some influence from Dutch cattle in the 18th century.{{r|luff|page=4}} During that century large numbers of cattle were exported from the Channel Islands to England; some of them had previously been brought from France.{{r|luff|page=3}} Imports of French cattle to Guernsey were forbidden by law in 1819, but some importation of British cattle continued until 1877.{{r|cabi|page=192}} Some cattle evacuated from [[Alderney]] during the [[Second World War]] were merged into the breed.<ref name="SpahrOpperman1995">{{cite book|last=Spahr|first=L. S.|author2=Opperman, G. E.|year=1995|title=The Dairy Cow Today: U. S. Trends, Breeding & Progress Since 1980|edition=2nd ed. USA|publisher=Hoard's Dairyman Books}}</ref>

Exports of cattle and semen were for a while an important economic resource for the island, and in the early 20th century, a large number of Guernsey cattle were exported to the United States.<ref name="SpahrOpperman1995"/> The Guernsey breed is on the watch list maintained by the American Livestock Breeds Conservancy, with fewer than 2,500 annual registrations in the U.S. and an estimated global population less than 10,000 animals.<ref>"American Livestock Breeds Conservancy, Conservation Priority List, 2012"</ref>