Both male and female water buffalo wear the species’ signature
backward-curving horns, although the females’ horns are significantly
smaller.
The water buffalo, or Asian buffalo, as it is often called, is the
largest member of the Bovini tribe, which includes yak, bison, African
buffalo, various species of wild cattle, and others.
Standing 5 to
6.2 feet (1.5 to 1.9 meters) tall at the shoulder, wild water buffalo
are formidable mammals with sparse gray-black coats. Males carry
enormous backward-curving, crescent-shaped horns stretching close to 5
feet (1.5 meters) long with deep ridges on their surface. Females are
smaller in size and weight, but they also have horns, although they are
proportionately smaller.
Water buffalo spend much of their day
submerged in the muddy waters of Asia’s tropical and subtropical
forests. Their wide-splayed hoofed feet prevent them from sinking too
deeply in the mud and allow them to move about in wetlands and swamps.
These marshes provide good cover and rich aquatic plants to forage on,
although water buffalo actually prefer to feed in grasslands on grass
and herbs.
