Correlations between live weight and main body measurements in adult female reindeer: comparison of temporally different datasets

The aim of the study is to assess the correlation between live weight and the main linear measurements of semi-domesticated reindeer in our own studies conducted over different years and to compare the obtained results with previously published materials by other authors. The own material used is a table of morphometric characteristics of reindeer, which includes 93 animals. We analysed live weight, height at the withers, and oblique body length. For comparison, we used published data from surveys of Nenets breed reindeer cows conducted in 1982 and 2020, materials on the phenotypic indicators of reindeer of the taiga zone, and studies of correlation relationships and genetic associations of measurements in Nenets breed reindeer. We also took into account our own work comparing phenotypic and genetic correlations between zootechnical traits in semi-domesticated reindeer. In our studies, the live weight was 75.01 ± 0.81 kg, the height at the withers was 96.91 ± 0.41 cm, and the oblique body length was 97.62 ± 0.41 cm. All three pairs of traits analyzed showed positive, statistically significant correlations: live weight vs. height at the withers, r = 0.606; live weight vs. oblique body length, r = 0.634; height at the withers vs. oblique body length, r = 0.687, with p < 0.001. Comparison with literature data shows a consistent positive direction of the relationships between live weight and linear measurements across different years and samples, despite differences in absolute average values and the composition of the analyzed groups. The data obtained confirm the feasibility of using body measurements as additional objective indicators in the phenotypic assessment of northern reindeer; however, for breeding conclusions, phenotypic correlations should be supplemented with genetic ones.