Cape Buffalo

The Cape Buffalo or African Buffalo is found throughout Africa from Egypt to South Africa. It inhabits various areas from savannah and woodlands to mountainous forests. The size of the Cape Buffalo is about 1.7 meters at the withers and up to 3.5 meters long. African Buffalos are not domesticated, because they are unpredictable and very aggressive to humans. Several attacks of Cape Buffalos on humans are recorded each year. These animals kill more people than any other wild animal in Africa.

Cape Buffalos are very successful grazers. They feed on most tall coarse grasses and migrate constantly in search for new grazing areas. The Cape Buffalo usually grazes in herds consisting of related females, their offspring, and one or several dominant males. Bachelor young and old males stay away from the herd. Dominant males guard their females from other males. Fights between bulls are rare, but severe. Mating occurs during the rainy season. As the gestation period of the Buffalo is 11.5 months, birth peak occurs right before the mating peak. Newborn calves stay hidden in vegetation before they join the herd. Calves stay with the mother until the new calf is born. Males join the bachelor herd and females stay in the mother herd.

The Cape Buffalo has almost no predators except humans. Adult Buffalos can defend themselves against lions. Buffalos are even reported to kill lions and their cubs. Young calves and ill, wounded, or old species fall a prey to crocodiles, leopards, and hyenas. When grazing, calves gather in the middle of the herd, but if a herd is small and cannot protect the calves, they can make an easy prey for many predators.

The current status of the African Cape Buffalo is the Least Concern Conservation Dependent. These animals can be hunted for trophy in most places of their range. The population of the African Buffalo is estimated to be around a million species, but most hunters and scientists believe that this number doesn’t include other African Buffalo subspecies: North-east, Nile, and Forest Buffalos. The exact population of the Cape Buffalo is unknown, as these animals live in remote places.