It is distributed in southern Switzerland – the largest concentration is in the area of Visp (Viège) – and in neighbouring areas of northern Italy; it is present in modest numbers in Austria and Germany.

It is known by many names, including German: Walliser Schwarzhalsziege or Gletschergeiss; French: Col Noir du Valais, Chèvre des Glaciers or Race de Viège; and Italian: Vallesana or Vallese.

The Valais Blackneck has a distinctive colouring, black from the nose to behind the shoulder and white from there to the tail.

The English Bagot goat is similarly coloured, and has been thought to derive from this breed by descent from one presented to Richard II of England in 1387;[7] DNA studies have shown that the Bagot originated in Spain.

[9] It is one of the forty-three autochthonous Italian goat breeds of limited distribution for which a herdbook is kept by the Associazione Nazionale della Pastorizia, the Italian national association of sheep- and goat-breeders.