The African Bush 6 – The Buffalo

African Buffalo – Syncerus caffer

This is the sixth in an ongoing series of stories about the bush in Africa. Most photos are taken by the author himself using a Canon 1000D, while travelling. In the below pictures an iPhone 6 was however used. Sometimes time is of the essence or you just do not have your camera ready when a picture presents itself.

The African Buffalo or also known as the Cape buffalo, while smaller than the Asian Buffalo, is the largest of the buffalo’s found in Africa. It is not closely related to the Asian buffalo, and its ancestry remains unclear. It is not related to domestic cattle and also only distantly related to other bovine’s.

A member of the so called African big five (the other being the Lion, Leopard, Rhino and Elephant), this is one of the bush’s most dangerous animals and known for killing people that stumble across their path. The only real predators of this animal are crocodile, lion and of course man, that sees it as a prized trophy. If one charges you, even shooting it may not stop it, unless you shoot it in the right spot. A bullet would simply ricochet of the horns if you try for a head shot.

Buffalo grazing on the other side of a game fence.

These large grazers or found in both savannah or bush land, and require water daily, thus will most often be found near large rivers or consistent water spots. They emit various sounds, the most common that of the normal domestic cattle. The leaders of the herd will emit various sounds to signal the herd to move or change direction. While grazing they key moving as they are very effective eaters, mowing down grass quickly, and they do not like to eat where grass is trampled or soiled.

Looking at you – a game fence will be no match so be alert.

They mainly give birth through the rainy season, and they hide and protect their calves very effectively during the first few weeks.

The species is not endangered and remain widespread, although they are susceptible to disease. They are wonderful to see in the bush, but keep your distance, as these animals kill more than 200 people a year.

Other Articles in this series include

The African Bush – 4 July 2017
The African Bush 2 – 5 July 2017
The African Bush 3 – 19 July 2017
The African Bush 4 – 20 July 2017
The African Bush 5 – 21 July 2017