Buffalo

Fun Facts

There are five sub species of African Buffalo, the most common being the Cape Buffalo.

African Buffalo herds are hierarchical, with dominant females and males usually being the strongest and biggest.

Herds of African Buffalo can reach numbers in the thousands during the rainy season.

African Buffalos communicate to each other with different vocalisations. When they feel threatened by predators, they sound a long “waaa” call.

African Buffalo calves are only born during the rainy season.

LATIN NAME: Syncerus caffer

STATUS: Near Threatened (NT)

MATURE POPULATION: 398,000 – 401,000

HEIGHT: 3.3 – 5.6 feet

WEIGHT: 300 – 900 kg

LIFESPAN: 18 years

HABITAT: Forest, Savanna, Woodland

DESCRIPTION

African Buffalo are large, cow-like animals with large upwards-curling horns. Their young are usually reddish-brown in colour, becoming darker with age.

POPULATION

African Buffalo were once found throughout much of sub-Saharan Africa. Their populations have declined dramatically since the 19th century. This was due to loss of habitats from human expansion, climate change, poaching and disease.