Phenotypic Characterization of Goat Ecotypes in Northwestern Tunisia

Abstract

The study aimed to identify and characterize the phenotype of goat genetic resources in NorthWestern Tunisia. Observation of physical attributes and morphology and morphometrical measurements were employed for data collection. Five hundred fifty adult heads including 440 females and 110 males from three governorates (Bizerte, Beja, and Jendouba) were studied. Twenty-six parameters were evaluated. The results showed that 67.3% of the females and 7.11% of the males had a straight profile and 61.68% of the females had curled horns. Besides, we found that 83.41% of animals do not have pendants, 82.94% have a goatee and 80.28% of them are horned. The average length of the head was 22.22 ± 2.29 cm. The length of the body was 62.13 ± 6.54 cm, the length of the pelvis was 16.55 ± 2.05 cm, and the length of the tail averaged 9.84 ± 2.91 cm. The width of the hips was 13.10 ± 1.75 cm, the width of the ischium was 10.16 ± 6.75 cm. While the width of the chest was 40.93 ±4.65 cm. Besides, sex is a very highly significant factor of variation for the majority of studied traits. Finally, regarding the studied traits, Multiple Factorial Analysis (MFA) and Hierarchical Ascending Classification (CAH) identified five classes in the studied population.