Buffalo
Tagged: animal, animals, cat
Although the North American bison is often called a buffalo, true buffalo come from much warmer lands in Asia and Africa. Along with bison, buffalo belong to the scientific family Bovidae.
Where buffalo live
The several types of buffalo are native to South and Southeast Asia and much of Africa. As people from those regions spread throughout the world they brought buffalo with them. Today the animals can be found in Europe, Australia, and South and Central America as well as Asia and Africa. The Indian, or Asian water, buffalo lives in tall grasses close to bodies of water. It loves to lie in water or wallow in mud to keep flies away as well as to keep cool. The Cape, or African, buffalo lives in open or scrub-covered plains and open forests. Other types live in dense forests.
Physical features
Buffalo are heavily built animals. They range in size from the anoa, which stands about 3 feet (1 meter) tall, to the Asian water buffalo, which can reach a height of more than 5 feet (1.5 meters). All buffalo have horns, although the size and shape of the horns can vary greatly. The Cape buffalo has heavy horns that typically curve downward, then up and inward; in males the two horns meet to form a shield that covers the whole top of the head. The Asian water buffalo has horns that curve outward and backward and may reach 4 feet (1.2 meters) across. The animals can also vary in color. Many are black, though they may have patches of white, and one African type is reddish in color.
Behavior
Except for the anoa, buffalo in the wild travel and live in herds. They spend a great deal of time grazing on grasses and digesting their food. Buffalo are ruminants, which means that they digest their food by swallowing it, regurgitating it (bringing it back up from the stomach), and then chewing it again in a form called cud. Female buffalo give birth to one or two young 10 or 11 months after mating.
Buffalo and humans
The Asian water buffalo has been domesticated, or tamed for use by humans, for thousands of years. People value it as a beast of burden that can pull or carry things on its broad back. It is accustomed to wet conditions and for that reason is employed in flooded rice fields. People use buffalo milk and meat for food. In addition, people make leather products from buffalo hides. Though the domestic water buffalo remains widespread, the number of buffalo in the wild is decreasing. Farmers have taken over some of the lands where wild buffalo live. Humans have hunted the animals in large numbers for food and for their hides. Diseases spread by domestic animals have also decreased the population of wild buffalo
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