Characterization, evaluation and conservation of the Moxotó goat breed in Pernambuco, Brazil

Abstract

This work aimed to characterize and evaluate the state of conservation of the goat breed in Pernambuco State, in the Northeast region of Brazil. The methodology used is based on phenotypic aspects, populational census and interviews with farmers so as to characterize the production system of these animals in this region. The means and standard deviations for morphometric measures included: body length (BL), hip height (HH), chest perimeter (CP) and adult body weight (AW) of females of the breed. These were respectively 77.30 ± 9.88 cm; 60.43 ± 7.31 cm; 63.13 ± 7.02 cm and 30.13 ± 8.43 kg. Of all animals studied, approximately 76% are Without Breed Pattern Defined (WBPD), a product of crossbreeding with native animals, especially Moxotó and Nambi with exotic breeds such as Bhuj, Saanen, Boer and Anglo-Nubian, with a predominance of the latter. Only 12% are native breeds, with a predominance of Moxotó. Some older farmers confirm that the numbers of animals of this breed are decreasing progressively in the last few years. This is confirmed where at present 76% of the herd in the region are of mixed breed, due to crossbreeding with exotic breeds.