Cape buffalo

About Cape buffalo:

• The African or Cape buffalo (Syncerus caffer) is a formidable and aggressive species.
• It is one of the four subspecies of African Buffalo found south of the Sahara, the others being the forest buffalo, the West African Savanna Buffalo and the Central African Savanna Buffalo.
• Appearance
  • Compared with other large bovids, African buffalo have long but stocky bodies and short but thickset legs, resulting in a relatively short standing height.
  • The adult buffalo’s horns are its characteristic feature: they have fused bases, forming a continuous bone shield across the top of the head referred to as a “boss”.
• Habitat: They live in swamps and floodplains, as well as mopane grasslands, and the forests of the major mountains of Africa.
• They prefer a habitat with dense cover, such as reeds and thickets, but can also be found in open woodland, montane grasslands, and forest, savannas, and moist lowland rainforests.
• African buffalo may be active throughout the day and night. They are social and live in herds that consist of related females, and their offspring, in an almost linear dominance hierarchy.
• Distribution: The Cape Buffalo is found across the savannas of east and southern Africa.
• Diet: African buffalo have a strictly herbivorous (graminivorous, folivorous) diet. They feed on a wide variety of grasses, sedges, leaves, and other plants.
• These massive animals are also excellent swimmers and often cross rivers in search of better grazing.
• Conservation status
  • IUCN: Near Threatened

Q1: What is Savannas?

It is a vegetation type that grows under hot, seasonally dry climatic conditions and is characterized by an open tree canopy above a continuous tall grass understory (the vegetation layer between the forest canopy and the ground).

News: Ngorongoro study offers insights into why humans & Cape buffalo are coming into conflict in Africa