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Phenotypic characterization of Raya cattle in northern Ethiopia
Amine Mustefa
1
&Teklewold Belayhun
1
&Awoke Melak
1
&Mulata Hayelom
2
&Dereje Tadesse
3
&Abebe Hailu
1
&
Abraham Assefa
1
Received: 24 February 2020 /Accepted: 17 November 2020
#Springer Nature B.V. 2020
Abstract
Thirteen qualitative and six morphometric variables on a total of 651 adult cattle (76 oxen and 575 cows) from four purposively
selected districts were recorded to characterize the cattle populations in and around the breeding tract of Raya cattle. General
linear model, frequency, and multivariate analysis procedures of Statistical Analysis Software (SAS 9.0) were used to analyze the
data by splitting and merging the sexes. Higher measurement values for oxen were recorded over the cows. Location affects the
studied traits significantly. The cattle population from Habru district was significantly differentiated from Raya cattle. Among the
districts of Raya cattle, lowest values for most of the linear measurements were observed in Kobo district. Majority of the Raya
cattle possess upright, lyre-shaped horn, small, and erected hump placed at the cervical thoracic position, large dewlap, naval flap,
and perpetual sheath sizes and dominantly dark red body color with uniform body color pattern. Stepwise discriminant function
analysis reveals horn length, ear length, and height at wither were the first three most important morphometric variables used in
discriminating the cattle populations. Canonical discrimination analysis showed that the first canonical structure explains ma-
jority (94.13%) of the total variation with eigenvalue of 2.07 and canonical correlation of 82.14%. Discriminant function analysis
showed the classification of an average 61% of the studied animals into their respective districts. Pairwise Mahalanobis distances
between populations from different districts were found to be highly significant. Habru cattle population relates distantly from
Raya cattle except its short distance with Kobo district. The shortest distance was observed between Raya cattle of Alamata and
Raya Azebo districts. In conclusion, cattle from Alamata, Raya Azebo, and Kobo districts can be categorized as Raya cattle,
while strong similarities between the first two districts in showing the real characteristics and morphology of Raya cattle were
also revealed.
Keywords Cattle .Distance .Morphometric .Multivariate .Qualitative .Raya Azebo
Introduction
Ethiopia has the largest cattle population size in Africa (60.39
million heads) without counting some zones of the highly
populated regions (Afar and Somali) (CSA 2018). Majority
of the cattle populations are indigenous breeds found in the
rural part of the country, while some exotic and crossbreds
also exist mainly in the urban and peri-urban areas. Beside the
large population size distributed widely throughout the coun-
try, farmers and pastoralists get multiple functions from their
productions and services. Cattle genetic resources serve as
sources of meat, milk, hide, manure, draft power, and nutrient
recycling (Getachew and Gashaw 2001).
Diversity in animal genetic resource is important for cur-
rent and future research and development works. Diversity
allows the indigenous genetic resources to adapt and produce
in a more diversified agro ecologies. Variation with in and
among breeds is also one of the key inputs in genetic improve-
ment and conservation programs. It is more likely to bring
genetic improvement in a population with high variation than
low variation. This increment in production and productivity
will in turn help us to answer the food security problems,
market requirements, and nutritional gaps. Similarly, as the
variation within and among breeds increases, it brings a good
opportunity to find adaptable breeds to the changing agro-
ecology due to different factors including the climate change.
Therefore, to better understand the level of diversity and po-
tential of our indigenous animal genetic resources, proper
*Amine Mustefa
aminemustefa32@gmail.com
1
Ethiopian Biodiversity Institute, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
2
Mekelle Biodiversity Center, Mekelle, Ethiopia
3
Debre Berhan University, Debre Berhan, Ethiopia
https://doi.org/10.1007/s11250-020-02486-1
Tropical Animal Health and Production (2021) 53: 48
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