Physical and morphometric characteristics of the Angoni cattle in Zambia

Abstract This study aimed to characterize the Angoni breed of cattle sampled from three provinces of Zambia to determine existing genetic variation. Information from cattle owners through group discussions and secondary data from livestock extension officers was used to sample animals for this study, while study sites were selected using livestock population distribution from the Zambia Statistics Agency. Morphometric measurements and phenotypic characteristics were measured and recorded for each animal. The age of each animal was estimated using teeth dentition. Data was analyzed using XLSTAT version 2021 and Stata software. Predominant coat colours observed were blackish, blackish and white, and reddish and white (18%, 17% and 15% respectively. The majority of cattle (87.90%) were pigmented. (71.97%) possessed erect ears with moderate development of dewlap. The average age for females and males was 5.15 ± 2.2 years and 4.9 ± 2.1 years, respectively. The morphometric measurements (cm) for Shoulder height (SH) and topline (TopL) indicated males were slightly higher than females except for horn length (HornL) ( F = 16.2 ± 8.42; M = 13.04 ± 9.43) and horn width (HornW) ( F = 36.9 ± 13.27; M = 34.01 ± 19.50 ) in which females exhibited higher values than males. Multivariate regression analysis revealed that SH and TopL significantly differed (p < 0.05) for female and male cattle. Pearson correlations matrix demonstrated that most phenotypic traits were low to moderate positive correlation significant (p < 0.05), indicating a good association between these traits. Coat colour, ear orientation and dewlap development showed large variations among Angoni populations, indicating a lack of strong selection in these traits. Significant differences were observed for most morphometric traits, suggesting differences in size between the three studied cattle populations. The three cattle populations can best be differentiated by measuring shoulder height and topline. The above could be a valuable tool in developing genetic improvement, conservation and utilization of the breed.