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African buffalo

 
Dictionary: African buffalo
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n.
A large, often fierce buffalo (Syncerus caffer) of central Africa, having massive, downward curving horns. Also called Cape buffalo.


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Britannica Concise Encyclopedia: Cape buffalo
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Massive, black, horned buffalo (Syncerus caffer), formerly found throughout sub-Saharan Africa but now greatly reduced in number by disease and hunting. It is a gregarious animal of open or scrub-covered plains and open forests. When wounded, it is regarded as one of the most dangerous animals. It stands up to 5 ft (1.5 m) tall at the shoulder, and bulls can weigh almost a ton (about 900 kg). Its heavy horns typically curve downward, then up and inward. A smaller subspecies is found in dense West African forests.

For more information on Cape buffalo, visit Britannica.com.

Animal Encyclopedia: African buffalo
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Syncerus caffer

TAXONOMY

Syncerus caffer (Sparrmann, 1779), Cape of Good Hope, South Africa.

OTHER COMMON NAMES

French: Buffle d'Afrique; German: Kaffernbuffel.

PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS

Body length 82.6–118 in (210–300 cm); shoulder height 53–70 in (135–179 cm); tail length 29.5–43.3 in (75–110 cm); weight 1,100–1,984 lb (500–900 kg). Minor sexual dimorphism in body size, with adult females weighing about 17% less than adult males; the smallest subspecies from dense forests is half the body weight of the plains form. The most notable feature is its large head and broad muzzle. Males have relatively short (up to 59 in [150 cm]) but stout horns that typically extend sideways, first curving down, then up along the distal half of their length. Females also have horns, but these are smaller and narrower in girth than those of males. On older males, the broad bases of the horns abut, forming an almost solid plate across the forehead. The forest-dwelling subspecies have shorter and less curved horns. The pelage is short across the body and varies from black to reddish brown, depending on subspecies, sex, and age class. The forest subspecies is reddish brown. There is a fringe of long hairs on the ears and a short mane. The tail is long, ending in a prominent black tuft of hairs.

DISTRIBUTION

At a broad level, it is distributed in Africa from Guinea to southern Sudan and then south to Angola and eastern South Africa. Within large portions of this range, its populations are confined to nature reserves. Across its geographic range, it inhabits

low to high elevations as long as there are sufficient amounts of suitable habitat. It is particularly abundant in parts of Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, and Democratic Republic of the Congo.

HABITAT

Most abundant in savannas and riparian complexes (e.g., swamps and river floodplains), but it also occupies forests, grasslands, and shrublands from plains to mountains. In savannas, it requires large areas of dense grass with thickets or trees for resting cover. Populations that are forest dwelling obtain sufficient cover from the trees and bushes, but must meet their food requirements by frequenting small openings among the forest where ground vegetation such as grasses and forbs are abundant. Visit waterholes and muddy areas where they can drink and also wallow.

BEHAVIOR

Form large groups comprised of subgroups complexly structured by sex and age. This structure is in part hierarchically maintained by social dominance. Herd size is mediated by broad habitat factors. In forest-dwelling buffalo, groups are generally between 3–12 individuals comprised of females, their calves, and yearlings; in open habitats, herds are larger, are usually 50–500 animals, but occasionally reach up to 3,000. These largest herds lack the cohesion of the smaller typical groups. Adult females, their young, and males up to three years old form relatively stable subgroups within the herd; males older than three years form their own subgroups, while many males older than 10 years are solitary. Together, these subgroups move about within the larger herd, as it moves throughout its home range. During the dry season, some of the all-male subgroups may leave the herd to exploit feeding opportunities in an increasingly nutritionally challenging environment. In most areas, breeding occurs in the rainy season soon after calves are born. Males test the urine of females to determine if they are in estrus; when ready to mate, the cow will stand and allow the bull to mount and copulate.

FEEDING ECOLOGY AND DIET

Primarily grazers on savannas, consuming vast quantities of grasses. However, the subspecies inhabiting forests include a relatively large amount of shrubs in their diet. Not highly selective feeders, so can acquire the bulk of their forage more easily where there are tall grasses.

REPRODUCTIVE BIOLOGY

Polygynous. Reproduction is tied closely to the rainy season. The gestation period is approximately 11.5 months. Cows first calve when 4.5–5 years old, producing a single young, although occasionally twins are born. Thereafter, mature cows typically reproduce ever two years. Males do not participate in the rut until they are about seven years old.

CONSERVATION STATUS

Classified as Lower Risk/Conservation Dependent. After rinderpest epidemics around the turn of the century, it was greatly reduced across much of its range and extirpated in some regions. Since then, populations have increased and the species has reoccupied much of its former range. However, loss of lower elevation habitat to agriculture has restricted it to nature reserves in many areas.

SIGNIFICANCE TO HUMANS

Hunted by local peoples for meat. As well, it has a reputation for being dangerous and so with its formidable size, this adds to its allure for trophy hunters. Such reputation also makes it undesirable in areas inhabited by humans.

 
Columbia Encyclopedia: cape buffalo
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cape buffalo, species of short-haired African ungulate, or hoofed mammal, Syncerus caffer. The cape, or African, buffalo may reach 7 ft (2.1 m) in length, weigh more than 1,500 lb (670 kg), and reach a height of 5 ft (1.5 m) at the shoulder. Coat color and horn shape seem to vary with the animal's habitat, which ranges from high grass savanna to equatorial forest and extends from Lake Chad south to the Cape of Good Hope and from Senegal, on the Atlantic coast, to the Horn of Africa, on the Indian Ocean. Cape buffalo gather in herds of up to a thousand animals; they graze and drink in the early morning and evening and rest during the heat of midday and at night. They are aggressive and powerfully built, and can easily fend off the attack of a lion. They mate in January or February; after a gestation period of 11 months the cow gives birth to a single calf. Its life span is about 16 years. Cape buffalo are classified in the phylum Chordata, subphylum Vertebrata, class Mammalia, order Artiodactyla, family Bovidae.

Wikipedia: African Buffalo
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African Buffalo
Conservation status
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Subphylum: Vertebrata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Artiodactyla
Family: Bovidae
Subfamily: Bovinae
Genus: Syncerus
Hodgson, 1847
Species: S. caffer
Binomial name
Syncerus caffer
(Sparrman, 1779)
Subspecies

S. c. caffer
S. c. nanus
S. c. brachyceros
S. c. aequinoctialis
S. c. mathewsi

The African Buffalo, Affalo or Cape Buffalo (Syncerus caffer) is a large African bovid. It is up to 1.7 meters high, 3.4 meters long. Savannah type buffaloes weigh 500-900 kg, with only males, normally larger than females, reaching the upper weight range. Forest type buffaloes are only half that size.[2]The African Buffalo is not closely related to the slightly larger Wild Asian Water Buffalo, but its ancestry remains unclear. Owing to its unpredictable nature which makes it highly dangerous to humans, it has not been domesticated, unlike its Asian counterpart, the Domestic Asian Water Buffalo.

Contents

Ecology

Buffalo herd.

The African buffalo is one of the most successful grazers in Africa. It lives in swamps, floodplains as well as mopane grasslands and forests of the major mountains of Africa. Buffalo can be found from the highest mountains to sea level areas, and prefer habitat with dense cover such as reeds and thickets. Herds have also been found in open woodland and grassland. While not particularly demanding with regard to habitat, they require water daily and therefore depend on perennial sources of water.

Like the Plains zebra, the Buffalo can subsist on tall, coarse grasses. Herds of buffalo will reduce grass level to the height that is preferred by selective grazers. When feeding, the buffalo makes use of its tongue and wide incisor row to eat grass more quickly than most other African herbivores. Buffalo do not stay on trampled or depleted areas for long.

Other than humans, African buffalo have few predators and are capable of defending themselves against (and sometimes killing) lions.[3] 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 Nile Crocodile will typically attack only old solitary animals and young calves.[4] The leopard and spotted hyena are a threat only to newborn calves, though spotted hyenas have been recorded to kill full grown bulls on occasion.[5]

Social behavior

Herd size is highly variable. The basic herds consist of related females, and their offspring, in an almost linear dominance hierarchy. The basic herds are surrounded by sub-herds of bachelor males, high-ranking males and females, and old or invalid animals. The young males keep their distance from the dominant bull, who is recognizable by the thickness of his horns.

Bulls preparing to spar.

Adult bulls will spar in play, dominance interactions or actual fights. A bull will approach another slowing with his horns down and wait for the other bull do the same thing. When sparring the bulls twist their horns from side to side. If the sparring is for play the bulls may rub each other's faces and bodies during the sparring session. Actual fights are violent but rare and brief. Calves may also spar in play but adult females rarely spar at all.

When chased by predators a herd will stick close together and make it hard for the predators to pick off one member. Calves are gathered in the middle. Buffalo will try to rescue a member that has been caught. A calf's distress call will get the attention of not only the mother but also the herd. Buffalo will engage in mobbing behavior when fighting off predators. They have been recorded treeing lions for two hours, after the lions have killed a member of their group. Lion cubs can get trampled and killed. In one videotaped instance, a calf survived an attack by both lions and a crocodile after intervention of the herd.

Reproduction

Buffalo mate and give birth strictly during the rainy seasons. Birth peak takes place early in the season while mating peaks later. A bull will closely guard a cow that comes into heat, while keeping other bulls at bay. This is difficult as cows are quite evasive and attract many males to the scene. By the time a cow is in full estrous only the most dominant bull in the herd/subherd is there.

Cape Buffalo and her calf.

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] The maternal bond between mother and calf lasts longer than in most bovids. However when a new calf is born the bonding ends and the mother will keep her previous offspring out of the way with horn jabs. Nevertheless the yearling will still tag along for another year or so. Males leave their mothers when they are two years old and join the bachelor groups.

Attacks on humans

Known as one of the "big five" or "Black Death" in Africa, the African Buffalo is widely regarded as a very dangerous animal, as it gores and kills over 200 people every year. 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.[7] Buffalo are notorious among big game hunters as very dangerous animals, with wounded animals reported to ambush and attack pursuers.[8]

A herd in Kenya at Sunset

Status

The current status of African Cape Buffalo is dependent on the existence of the animal's value to both trophy hunters and tourists, paving the way for conservation efforts through anti-poaching patrols, village crop damage payouts, and CAMPFIRE payback programs to local areas.

The current total number of Cape Buffalo is spread throughout non-desert Africa, from Chad in the North to South Africa in the South. The cape buffalo are estimated to number around a million, but accurate counts are not possible with the lack of research funding in places like Sudan, Chad, Congo, and Benin. Most professional hunters, safari outfitters, and wildlife professionals believe the number to be only representing the actual Cape subspecies, and not counting the Nile, North-East, or Forest buffalo.

Gallery

19 century drawing

A typical "m'bogo" from Ngorongoro Crater Tanzania.

Cape Buffalo herd grazing in Maasai Mara, Kenya.

See also

References

  1. ^ IUCN SSC Antelope Specialist Group (2008). Syncerus caffer. In: IUCN 2008. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Downloaded on 29 March 2009. Database entry includes a brief justification of why this species is of least concern.
  2. ^ "Syncerus caffer". http://www.ultimateungulate.com/Artiodactyla/Syncerus_caffer.html. 
  3. ^ "Cape Buffalo". Canadian Museum of Nature. http://nature.ca/notebooks/english/capebuff.htm. 
  4. ^ Syncerus caffer - African buffalo
  5. ^ Kruuk, Hans (1972). The Spotted Hyena: A study of predation and social behaviour. New York: Parkwest. pp. 335. ISBN 0563208449. 
  6. ^ "African Buffalo". British Broadcasting Corporation. http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/wildfacts/factfiles/654.shtml. 
  7. ^ "Africa on the Matrix: The Cape Buffalo". http://www.on-the-matrix.com/africa/buffalo.asp. 
  8. ^ "African Animals Hunting facts and tips - Buffalo Hunting". http://www.safaribwana.com/ANIMALS/animpages/buffalo.htm. 
  • Estes, R. (1991). The Behavior Guide to African Mammals, Including Hoofed Mammals, Carnivores, Primates. Los Angeles, The University of California Press
  • Ecology and Behaviour of the African Buffalo - Social Inequality and Decision Making (Chapman & Hall Wildlife Ecology & Behaviour)
  • 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

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Dictionary. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.  Read more
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Animal Encyclopedia. Grzimek's Animal Life Encyclopedia. Copyright © 2005 by The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved.  Read more
Columbia Encyclopedia. The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition Copyright © 2003, Columbia University Press. Licensed from Columbia University Press. All rights reserved. www.cc.columbia.edu/cu/cup/.  Read more
Wikipedia. This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "African Buffalo".  Read more