African buffalo Facts African buffalo is the only species of wild cattle that can be found in Africa. It is also known as Cape buffalo, forest buffalo and savanna buffalo. African buffalo inhabits sub-Saharan parts of Africa. There are four subspecies of African buffalo that differs in color, size and type of habitat where they can be found.
African buffalo lives in open woodlands, savannas, forests, and lowland rainforests. Since African buffalo depends on water, it requires habitats that receive at least 10 inches of rain per year.
African buffalo is sensitive to habitat loss, hunt and diseases induced by rinderpest virus , but it is not endangered. Interesting African buffalo Facts: African buffalo is large animal that can reach 6. African buffalo has large head, broad chest and strong legs. It is four times stronger than ox. Body of African buffalo is covered with hair that can be brownish to black in color.
Horns of African buffalo are shaped like question marks. The African buffalo is one of the biggest and most dangerous grassland animals. It is found in varied habitats up to 13,ft 4,m high. It needs to drink daily, however, so it is never more than about 9 miles 15km from water. The male is often almost twice the weight of the female, has stronger horns, a thicker neck, and a shoulder hump. Males also have a small, hanging fringe of hairs on the throat, called a dewlap. Buffalo have a lifespan of roughly 23 years; they are ranked in their herds by their fighting capabilities.
Buffalo will often have head on clashed to determine rank in the herd. Dominant individuals will feed ahead of the rest of the herd or in the middle and gets the best nutrient rich grass and best access to females in oestrus. Pathfinders act as a leader to the herd and determine where the herd will move. As buffalo get older and their reproduction peaks pass males will often be chased from the larger herds and are often found in small groups or on their own. These animals then get the nickname Dagha boys.
Dagha is the Zulu name for mud and refers to the buffalo spending a lot of their past time in mud wallows. Buffalo are gregarious and live in mixed herds often numbering hundreds of individuals. They are not territorial because they are bulk grazers and need to find suitable grazing and water on an ongoing basis.
Buffalo consume very coarse material and therefore require as much as twice a day. A buffalo can consume 35 liters of water at a time in a matter of minutes. Buffalo have excellent sense of smell and can use this sense to find food or detect danger and predators nearby. These incredible animals can also swim, and will cross rivers into areas better suited for grazing. When a buffalo feels threatened they can alert the entire herd — the calves and cows are sheltered in the center whilst the stronger males put on a united front, this is very intimidating for predators and often work in the buffalos favor.
The buffalo will mob or intimidate predators and if necessary stampede. Buffalo try to always stay in the herd and have been very successful in defending the herd like this, even if faced with a pride of lion.
Lion will often prey on the weaker, older individuals, the Dagha boys, as they are often solitary and weaker from age. Buffalo do however carry foot and mouth disease as well as bovine tuberculosis BTB. Currently there is no cure for BTB and individuals have to be euthanized.
The Cape buffalo was nearly wiped to extinction when the rinderpest virus struck South Africa in the s. The virus was introduced into Africa by Italian cattle bought in by Italian soldiers for their fight against Somalia. It killed nearly 5. The epidemic was so bad that it wiped out a third of the Ethiopian population and two thirds of the Maasai people in Tanzania. Rinderpest was thankfully eradicated in Africa and subsequently South Africa, and the Cape buffalo can readily be seen throughout the game reserves.
In Kwazulu Natal where Heritage tours are situated the Cape buffalo can be seen in Hluhluwe Imfolozi as well as in the Isimangaliso wetlands park where the buffalo are disease free. Come and join us on any one the safaris to enjoy magnificent sightings of these angry serious looking animals.
The African buffalo as we know it today has evolved from a smaller ancestor that came into African 6 million years ago. The buffalo as we see today replaced a much wider horned type of animal that was abundant and very widespread. This has been replaced by what we know as domesticated cattle today.
Many animals including the buffalo are being put under pressure as the need for land and livestock grow. They are also found in various provincial reserves and also on private game reserves and game farms where they were reintroduced. Buffalo's are carriers of foot and mouth disease and they also suffer from bovine tuberculosis. Therefore they are not allowed beyond certain areas red line areas as they might infect other animals, more particularly cattle.
All buffalos that are reintroduced outside of these areas are bred elsewhere and are so-called disease free buffalos.
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