| Rastreador Brasileiro Brazilian Tracker | |||||||||||||||||||
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| Other names | Urrador Urrador Americano | ||||||||||||||||||
| Origin | Brazil | ||||||||||||||||||
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| Dog (domestic dog) | |||||||||||||||||||
TheRastreador Brasileiro (English: Brazilian Tracker) is a mid- to large-sizedbreed ofdog—specifically ascent hound—fromBrazil, also known by the namesUrrador (for its signature baying and howl when hunting) orUrrador Americano, a reference to the North American (U.S.)coonhound in the breed's bloodlines andgenealogy.[1] First recognised by theFédération Cynologique Internationale (FCI) in 1967, by 1973, an outbreak of disease and an overdose ofinsecticides, effectively eliminated the breed's entire population; both the FCI and theConfederação Brasileira de Cinofilia (CBC), Brazil's kennel club organization, declared the breed extinct that year and de-listed it.[1] However, efforts were made to reproduce the Rastreador Brasileiro through mixing and controlled breeding projects involving several other hound breeds, resulting in today's Rastreador Brasileiro. In 2013, the Brazilian Kennel Club (CBKC) officially re-recognized the breed.[2] An updated FCIbreed standard was produced in 2019.
The Rastreador Brasileiro has a short, smooth coat. The colour options are:[2]
The breed standard from 1970 shows the size as being 62 to 67 cm (24.4 to 26.4 ins) at thewithers, and the general appearance as being generally similar to an Americancoonhound.[3] However, the current official Brazilianbreed standard mentions the height of males being 60 to 65 cm and the height of females being 56 to 63 cm.[2]
TheGrupo de Apoio ao Resgate do Rastreador Brasileiro in Brazil, a club dedicated to the Brazilian restoration of the breed, lists as an objective the finding of 40 breeding animals of the correct type that can be certified as members of the breed, so as to eventually be once again recognised by the Brazilian Kennel Club.[4]
Restoration of the breed is difficult due to the existence of very few dogs of the correcttype and the lack of people interested in recovering the true Brazilian cultural and genetic heritage of the breed.[5][citation needed]
