Discover

:''Cape Buffalo redirects here.''
The 'African Buffalo' or 'Cape Buffalo' (''Syncerus caffer'') is a bovid from the family of the Bovidae. It is up to 1.7 meters high, 2.8 meters long. On average, an adult male stands about 1.5 m high at the shoulder and weighs 600 - 750 kg, while a female is 10 - 15 cm shorter and weighs between 400 - 550 kg. Bulls at ten years of age or older can reach or exceed 900 kg. The African Buffalo is not closely related to the slightly larger Asian Water Buffalo, but its ancestry remains unclear.^[1]

Contents

Behavior

Range and habitat

Social behavior and reproduction

Status

Gallery

References

External links

Behavior

The Cape Buffalo is a very powerful creature, demanding respect from even a pride of lions when paths cross. Other than humans, they have few natural predators and are capable of defending themselves against (and sometimes killing) lions.^[2] Lions do kill and eat buffalo regularly, but it typically takes multiple lions to bring down a single adult buffalo; only large male lions have been known to take down adult buffalo on their own. The leopard and spotted hyena are a threat only to newborn calves. The African Buffalo has never been domesticated.
Known as one of the "big five" in Africa, the African Buffalo is widely regarded as a very dangerous animal, as it mauls and kills several people every year.^[3] Buffalo are sometimes reported to kill more people in Africa than any other animal, although the same claim is sometimes made of Hippopotami or Crocodiles.^[4] Buffalo are notorious among big game hunters as very dangerous animals, with wounded animals reported to ambush and attack pursuers.^[5]

Range and habitat

Cape Buffalo occur from open savannah to thickly wooded country, and wallow when the opportunity presents itself. They are found in Sudan, Ethiopia, Somalia, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Namibia, Botswana, Mozambique, South Africa, Kenya and Tanzania.

Social behavior and reproduction

The main herd consists of females and their offspring. Males will form bachelor groups with dominance hierarchies. Old males normally live alone. A male is recognizable by the thickness of his horns, and is called the "Boss." During the mating season the bachelor groups stay with the herd and fight among each other for females.
Cows first calve at five years of age, after a gestation period of 11.5 months. Newly born calves remain hidden in vegetation for the first few weeks while being nursed occasionally by the mother before joining the main herd. Calves are held in the centre of the herd for safety.
^[6] Males leave their mothers when they are two years old and join the bachelor groups.

Status

Although in the past the population of African buffalo was in the tens of millions, it now stands at about 900,000; mostly in the savannas of eastern Africa. Some of the reasons for this decline in numbers are hunting, both for food and for sport; the conversion of their habitat to farmland and cattle pasture; droughts; and the introduction of foreign pests and diseases, especially the cattle disease rinderpest. It is not considered to be in danger of extinction as long as it remains protected in parks and reserves, although habitat loss continues. ^[7]

Gallery

References

1. Cape Buffalo
2. Cape Buffalo
3. Top Ten Deadliest Animals
4. Africa on the Matrix: The Cape Buffalo
5. African Animals Hunting facts and tips - Buffalo Hunting
6. African Buffalo
7. (Huffman 2006)(IUCN 2006)


★

★ Huffman, B. 2006. ''The ultimate ungulate page''. ''UltimateUngulate.com''. Retrieved January 9, 2007.

★ International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN). 2006. ''Syncerus caffer'',

★ Nowak, R.M. and Paradiso, J.L. 1983. ''Walker's Mammals of the World''. Baltimore, Maryland, USA: The Johns Hopkins University Press. ISBN 0801825253

External links

★ http://www.nature-wildlife.com/buftxt.htm

★ Video:Battle Kruger

★ Buffalo images

★ Hypervideo showing buffalos fending off lion attack