Correlation Analysis of Morphometric Traits and Principal Component Analysis (PCA) for Selection of Female Bali Cattle in East Kalimantan

Bali cattle is one of Indonesia’s native germplasm sources for meat supply. This study aimed to characterize basic morphometric traits, analyze the relationships among morphometric traits, and identify potential regions as superior breeding stock for female Bali cattle. The research was conducted from December 2024 to March 2025 across six regions in East Kalimantan Province, involving a total of 251 female Bali cattle aged 12 and 24 months. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, ANOVA, Duncan’s test, Pearson correlation, and Principal Component Analysis (PCA). Correlation analysis indicated strong to very strong relationships among body measurements and morphometric indices. A high correlation was found between Chest Girth (CG) and Chest Index (CI) (r = 0.86) as well as Body Length (BL) (r = 0.74). Body Length (BL) showed a strong correlation with Length Index (LI) (r = 0.82) and with Proportion Index (PI) (r = 0.50). PCA analysis revealed two principal components for 12-month-old cattle: PC1 (BL; CG; LI) at 53.6% and PC2 (PI; LI) at 28.5%. The principal components at 24 months showed PC1 (CG; BL; CI]) at 50.5% and PC2 (PI; LI) at 32.2%. The PCA analysis explained more than 82% of the variation, with chest girth (CG) and body length (BL) consistently emerging as dominant variables. All cattle met the Indonesian National Standard (SNI) criteria for female Bali cattle breeding stock.