Until the outbreak of the First World War it was the most numerous sheep breed in southern Carinthia, in Friuli and in Slovenia.

The traditional mountain sheep reared for hundreds of years in the Alpine region of southern Carinthia were of the primitive Zaupelschaf type, similar to the Tiroler Steinschaf.

[7][8]: 290  They were frugal and hardy, and well adapted to the steep slopes and sparse pasture of the mountains, but yielded wool of coarse quality and little meat.

[7] Under the Rassebereinigung ("breed cleansing") policies of the National Socialist régime, the Jezersko–Solčava was virtually exterminated by substitution cross-breeding with the Deutsches Bergschaf.

[9] After the Second World War the population continued to decline, reaching a low point in the 1980s, when only about 200 head remained in Austria.