It is classified as an endangered breed by both the Ministerio de Agricultura, Pesca y Alimentación, the agriculture ministry of Spain,[6][7] and by the Conservatoire des Races d'Aquitaine in France.

[8] It is one of a small number of semi-feral cattle populations in Europe, with the Albera of the Pyrenees, the Monchina of Cantabria, and the Raço di Biòu of the Camargue.

[5]: 59 [10] It appears in Basque mythology as Zezengorri ('red bull'), guardian of the treasure of the goddess Mari.

[11] The Betizu is sometimes believed to be the remnant of an ancient Pyrenean cattle population adapted to survive in marginal mountain terrain;[5]: 60  or it may derive from animals lost or escaped during the annual transhumance.

At about the same time the Government of Navarre established a conservation herd at the finca of Sastoia in Urraúl Alto, in the comarca of Lumbier; management of the herd was later handed over to the Instituto Navarro de Tecnologías e Infraestructuras Agroalimentarias [es].