Abstract

The study was conducted to physically characterize indigenous sheep population in Dawuro zone and Konta special woreda of South-West region of Ethiopia. Physical observation and body weight and linear measurements were studied 630 mature sheep. Multivariate canonical and discriminant analysis were employed to differentiate populations. Sampled animals were identified by sex, age and location. Heart girth and body length were found to be the most important variables for estimation of body weight. The result shows the majority of the ewes and rams across all the locations had plain coat color pattern (52-62.9%) with dominant brown, brown and creamy, and brown and white coat color with fat tailed type. All squared Mahalanobis’ distances obtained among districts populations for females and males were significant (P<0.0001), indicating the existence of measurable differences between females and males district populations or districts. For males and females, most individuals were classified into their source population.

Keywords: Body Weight; Correlation; Interaction; Mahalanobis Distances; Dawuro; Konta