BUFFALO


Meaning of BUFFALO in English

any of several cud-chewing mammals of the family Bovidae (order Artiodactyla). The name is often applied to the bison (q.v.) of North America. The Indian buffalo (Bubalus bubalis), also called water buffalo and carabao, roams wild in southeastern Asia and is kept as a domestic animal throughout the warmer parts of the Old World; it is the principal draft animal in the rice-growing countries of Southeast Asia. A massively built, oxlike animal, it is dull black with a sparse coat and large horns that are triangular in cross section. It stands 1.5 metres (5 feet) or more at the shoulder and weighs up to 800 kilograms (1,760 pounds). The horns, which together may be more than 1.2 m long, curve outward and backward. The horns of the cow are more slender than those of the bull. In the wild, the Indian buffalo lives in herds, most often in swampland and grass jungle. Bold and even savage, it will often charge intruders. In summer, the female bears one or two calves, 10 months after conception. Domestic races of the Indian buffalo are kept mainly as draft animals and for milk, butter, and hides. Cape, or African, buffalo (Syncerus caffer) The Cape, or African, buffalo (Syncerus caffer; see photograph) is a similar massive, black, sparsely haired animal standing up to 1.5 m at the shoulder; bulls weigh up to about 900 kg. Its heavy horns typically curve downward, then up and inward; at their bases, they form large bosses. A subspecies of Cape buffalo found in dense West African forests is smaller, reddish brown, and has shorter horns. Formerly found over all of Africa south of the Sahara, the Cape buffalo has been greatly reduced in numbers by disease and hunting. It is a gregarious animal of open or scrub-covered plains and open forests. The cow bears a single young after about 11 months' gestation. When wounded, the Cape buffalo is regarded as one of the most dangerous animals to man. It has never been domesticated. The anoa (Anoa depressicornis) is a diminutive, dark-brown buffalo of dense, mature forests of Celebes. A shy animal restricted to the interior of the island, the anoa stands 0.751 m at the shoulder and has straight, sharp-tipped horns. It is hunted for food and for hides and horns. A closely related, slightly larger species, the tamarau, or tamaraw (Anoa mindorensis), inhabits the Philippine island of Mindoro. Exceedingly shy and wild, the tamarau has been badly depleted in numbers. Like several races of anoa, it is listed as endangered in the Red Data Book. The Cape buffalo, tamarau, and anoa are sometimes considered to be of the same genus (Bubalus) as the Indian buffalo.

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