Effect of Sex and Age on Body Weight and some Morphometric Measurements of Gazelle Dorcas and Reedbuck in the Sudan

The study was conducted on a group of 24 animals belonging to two Sudanese antelope species, 6 males and 6 females from each species, namely Gazelle Dorcas and Bohor Reedbuck. Data on body weight and morphometric measurements were collected from the two species. The main objective was to determine the effects of sex and age on body weight and measurements of the two species. Averages of body weight and morphometric traits of Bohor Reedbuck were larger than the corresponding values of Dorcas, while the opposite was true in the case of horn thickness, as it was larger in the later. Sex had a significant effect on leg length, base and mid horn thickness in Dorcas, while its effect on body weight and measurements of Bohor Reedbuck was not significant. The effect of age on all traits studied was modeled as covariance, and it was significant on body weight, body length, head length, neck length, ear length, horn length, chest girth and leg length in Dorcas and on all traits in Bohor Reedbucks, except rump height, leg length, and horn thickness at base. Least-squares means of body weight, head length, neck length and belly girth of Dorcas females were larger than the corresponding values of males, but the differences were not significant. On the other hand, Dorcas males had slightly larger least-squares means of body length, ear length, tail length, horn length, chest girth, chest height, pelvic height, belly height and hock joint height than their corresponding values of females, but the differences were also not significant. Males also had significantly larger length of hind leg and horn thickness at base and middle than the females. Regarding Bohor Reedbuck, males had slightly larger least-squares means of body weight and morphometric measurements than those of the females, but the differences were not significant. It is concluded that age seems to be an important factor, as it is a significant effect on most of the traits, while sex is not effective as compared. Further study is required on bigger data set.