AFRICAN BUFFALO



How to Recognize
The only wild cow of Africa, African buffalo are very common to see. They are stocky and cattle-like, black or dark brown in color. Both sexes have distinctive thick, up curving horns that meet over the forehead (the female’s horns are usually smaller).

Their sense of smell is much more acute than their other senses. If you approach a herd, several buffaloes will come forward to test the wind. The remaining adults form a line to shelter the young.

Although they're generally docile and inactive, buffaloes can be very dangerous (especially old bulls) and should be treated with caution. One is even reputed to have tossed a Land Rover!

Habitat
They have a fairly wide habitat tolerance which includes mosaics of grassland, woodland, savanna, swamps, floodplain, and forest edge. They require areas with abundant grass, water, and cover. They can be found up to altitudes of 13,000 feet.

Behavior
Nocturnal and diurnal but inactive during the heat of the day. African buffaloes are highly gregarious, with cows and calves forming herds of thousands during the rainy season. During the dry season, smaller ‘clans’ of twelve or so can be seen.

Group composition is very fluid and smaller herds often break away, sometimes rejoining later. Young bulls often form small bachelor herds, while older bulls past their mating prime are usually solitary (explains why old bulls are so dangerous!).

The activity and movement of a herd is tightly coordinated by a variety of signals including mooing calls and smells. Bulls wallow to cool off and to remove parasites. Blind or injured buffaloes can survive for years because of their size and bellicosity.

Breeding
One calf is born (mostly in the early rains) after an 11½-month gestation, and they are weaned after about 10 months. Cows in estrus attract bulls who posture for dominance by circling, pawing, thrashing bushes, and sometimes charging head-on in violent clashes.

Feeding
They graze on a wide variety of grasses, including coarse grass left by other species. They will nibble on herbs and foliage when grass is scare. They drink daily and lick termite mounds for salt. They chew their cud.

Enemies
Lions and cheetahs. They will charge a predator in mass and rally to protect a stricken animal.


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Copyright © 2002, Dawn M. Dalton.
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