The Jonica is an Italian breed of domestic goat from the province of Taranto, in Puglia in southern Italy.
[3] Its origins are uncertain; it is thought to derive from crossing of local varieties with the Maltese breed.
[2]: 369 It is one of the eight autochthonous Italian goat breeds for which a genealogical herd-book is kept by the Associazione Nazionale della Pastorizia, the Italian national association of sheep-breeders.
[4]: 32 [5] In 1998 the total number of the goats was estimated at 20000 head.
The annual milk yield for pluriparous nannies is some 450–500 litres in a lactation of some 250–270 days; most of it used to make canestrati or cacioricotta.