North American Introduced Water Buffalo Hunting

Water Buffalo

(Bubalus bubalis)

Current SCI all time record: Score 103 - Florida, Lake Okeechobee - 5/98

Description: The wild buffalo is a big animal, heavier and more robust than the Domestic or Water Buffalo. A bull may stand as high as 5.5ft at the shoulder and may weigh up to a ton. A bull’s head may measure 275 cm from tip to tip. Like the domestic buffaloes, the wild buffalo is slaty black in color. Its legs are dirty white at the knees just above the socks. A newborn calf is light in color, almost yellow.

Bull wild buffaloes have two types of horns:the horns curve upwards in a semi-circle and the tips are separated by a small margin, or, the horns spread horizontally from the head and curve upwards and inwards at the tips. Both forms may be found in the same herd. In cross section the horns are flat and triangular. Cows are less massive and their horns vary in shape.

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Range: (Indigenous to southern Asia): Primarily Texas and Florida; year around.

Natural History: The ideal habitat for the buffaloes are the tall grass jungle and reed brakes found near swamps. These provide food and shelter, as well as pools of water to wallow in. The buffaloes roll about in the muddy waters and cake their bodies with mud. The mud provides medicinal treatment in curing cracks and bruises. Wild buffaloes also inhabit nullahs, which have grass and trees. In drier areas or during the heat of summer they are given to ranging far over the hills. They graze mainly in the mornings and evenings. In contrast to Gaur, Wild buffalo do not shun man and often enter cultivation. In fact, wild buffaloes are hard to drive away once they have entered a field!

They have been described as the boldest and among the most savage of all Indian bovines. Bull wild buffaloes have been known to attack man without provocation. When a bull charges, it snorts and stamps the ground before characteristically lowering its head. Cow buffaloes with newborn calves are dangerous; and even the tame among the species have been known to stand and face a tiger. This aspect has been made famous in Kipling’s "Jungle Books". Scent is keenly developed in these animals. So also is their power of hearing although sight is moderate. Vocalization is restricted to grunting, while bellowing is rare.

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