Buffalo

Description:

Large ox with thick, bossed horns and tasselled ears. The coat is short, often sparse and coloured from a rich red to black. The underside and chin of the Buffalo is often pale (even creamy white) and patches of contrasting colour appear on the face and legs. The differences between Forest and Savannah Buffaloes are very great but there are intermediate and mixed types. Subspecies: Forest Buffalo, S. c. nanus; Western Buffalo, S. c. brachyceros; Cape Buffalo, S. c. caffer; plus the possible relict 'Mountain Buffalo', S. c. mathewsi. Forest Buffaloes are generally below 120cm in height and 320kg in weight; savannah forms are larger.

Habitat:

The Forest Buffalo depends on low-level browse and an undetermined minimum of grass in its diet, limiting it to grassy glades, watercourses and waterlogged basins. The humid climate ensures continuous plant growth, which ensures that small areas will support Buffaloes throughout the year. Heavy browsing and grazing in 'buffalo glades' helps to limit or delay plant growth. Savannah Buffaloes also seek out forests and valley bottoms where possible but can stay in the open and resist overheating and desiccation by becoming immobile or by lying in wallows. Their need for water and dense cover, as well as grass, makes them favour mosaics and savannahs with patches of thicket, reeds or forest. They retain strong attachments to traditional ranges even when conditions change.

Notes:

Size: HB 170-340cm. T 50-80cm. H 100-170cm. W 250-850kg. Food: Grazing, breaking and trampling by Buffaloes favours rapid grass regrowth, which encourages intense and repeated foraging. Particularly favoured grasses are Cynodon, Sporobolus, Digitaria, Panicum, Heteropogon and Cenchrus species, but a wide choice of swamp vegetation is eaten. Grazing is quickly influenced by disturbance or human predation, with animals switching from continuous grazing to dawn, dusk and night-time grazing. Behaviour: The Forest Buffalo forms small groups of up to 12 animals with related females and their offspring as the core and 1 or more attendant males. Other males are solitary or form small bachelor parties. Savannah Buffaloes can assemble in much larger aggregations but similar 'family' clusters amplified into regular clan-like associations are also attended by bulls. Within these clans adults of both sexes develop hierarchical rank orders. They have well-marked seasonal breeding peaks and the dry 'off-season' sees many males breaking away from female families or clans. Gatherings of as many as 2,000 animals are only possible during the rains or on major patches of rich pasture. Female receptivity is preceded by signs of oestrus that attract many bulls. Here the effects of male rank come into play, with the top bull or bulls having priority. Nonetheless fights are common and collisions after head-to-head charges have ended in one bull cartwheeling into the air to land on his back. Gestation lasts about 11 months and birth intervals of 2 years are normal. The cow-calf bond is very strong and exclusive but the female attachment to her herd is also close. Thus, all adults respond to distress calls and even bulls wounded by other bulls seek refuge in the herd. Vision, a dominant sense in most open-country animals, is less important than sound. Quiet lowing is the preferred way of keeping in touch, especially in dark forests. This allows even blind buffaloes to remain safe in the herd