Determination of the morphometric characteristics of donkey (Equus asinus)populations reared in Turkey

This research aims to determine the morphometric characteristics of the donkey (Equus asinus) populations reared in Turkey. For this purpose, live weights and body measurements were collected from 500 donkeys. The donkeys were grouped according to the factors of color, age, sex, and province and the live weights (LW) (kg), withers heights (WH), rump heights (RH), body lengths (BL), chest circumferences (CC), chest depths (CD), front shank circumferences (FSC), head lengths (HL) and ear lengths (EL) (cm) of the donkeys were measured. In the study, the males were found to have higher values of live weight, withers height, rump height, and chest depth than the females (p < 0.05). Significant differences in the live weights of the donkeys were seen by province, age, color, and sex (p < 0.01 and p < 0.05). Significant differences were found among the age groups as well (p < 0.01). Accordingly, the least squares means of the animals aged 1-3 years, 4-5 years, 6-8 years, and 9 years and over for live weight were measured as 112.10 ± 3.11 kg, 141.54 ± 2.76 kg, 153.98 ± 2.42 kg, and 152.95 ± 2.34 kg, respectively. The least squares mean of live weights were also determined as significant between the female and male animals (138.08 ± 1.96 kg) and (142.21 ± 2.25 kg), respectively (p < 0.05). The highest correlation coefficient was calculated between live weight and body length among the donkeys (r = 0.83). Furthermore, the classical method (CM) and the fixed object photo (FOP) method were compared for photographed animals in the study. No difference in WH, RH, CD or HL was seen between the two methods (p > 0.05). In conclusion, the morphometric characteristics of the donkeys were determined and it was shown that the populations were not distinguished clearly from each other and that this was fundamentally due to the transitions among the donkey populations for long years.