Buffalos are common animals that can be seen in northeast India, Bangladesh, Nepal, and Bhutan. But in this article, we shall be discussing some uncommon facts about this common animal.
Wild Asian water buffalo (Bubalus arnee) are considered to be the ancestors of the domestic buffalos. These tough animals are very bulky and strong in nature. But alas!
Asian buffalo population is decreasing. Some reasons for the decrease in their population are habitat destruction and hunting. Wild Asian buffalos are inhabitants of southeast Asia and are mostly found in India.
They inhabit places like swamp areas and grasslands, which have water bodies (river, lake, pond) nearby. They are herbivores who eat anything that has a connection with a plant.
Comming to their physical description, they are huge in size. Wild buffalo are typically bigger and heavier than domestic water buffalo (more information about their height, length, and weight is given in the answers below). They have big horns that are hollow from inside and wide feet which enables them to freely walk in the mud.
Further in the article, we shall be discussing some interesting and funny facts about this animal. So keep reading!
And if you like reading animal facts, then do check out our scimitar oryx facts and plains zebra facts pages.
Asian Buffalo Interesting Facts
What type of animal is an Asian buffalo?
The Asian buffalo (Bubalus arnee) is a kind of buffalo found in the southeastern region of Asia, mainly in India. They are both present both in the wild and in houses as domestic animals.
What class of animal does an Asian buffalo belong to?
The Asian wild Water Buffalo belongs to the class, order, family, and genus Mammalia, Artiodactyla, Bovidae, and Bubalus. They belong to the Animalia kingdom, phylum Chordata. The scientific name of wild water buffalo is Bubalus arnee.
How many Asian buffalos are there in the world?
These wild water buffalo species are found mainly in India. According to several population counts, these wild buffalo species are considered endangered with a total population count of around 3500 individuals.
Where does an Asian buffalo live?
The Asian wild water buffalo mainly live in the eastern provinces of India and are also found in Bangladesh. They are herbivorous animals that can be found in the wild, grazing on grass. They are also found enjoying in ponds and swamps.
What is an Asian buffalo's habitat?
The Asian wild water buffalo are found in the southeastern region of Asia in India, Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan, and Cambodia. They mainly inhabit places like wet open fields or grasslands and places with good availability of food.
Who do Asian buffalos live with?
Wild water buffalo are very social in nature. They roam, graze, or search for food in herds. Generally, males and females create different groups. The female group sometimes can be as large as it has around 30 members in it, including their kids (calf) also.
How long does an Asian buffalo live?
Wild water buffalo live up to an average age range of around 25 years. It can be more or less depending on the environment.
How do they reproduce?
Wild water buffalo, like the domestic water buffalo, give birth to a single calf per year. They are known to be seasonal breeders, but some of their population breeds year-round. These seasonal breeders breed between the months of October and November. After a gestation period of around ten months and ten days, females give birth to their children.
What is their conservation status?
According to IUCN Red List, wild water buffalo species are considered under the conservation status of Endangered. Having population count less than 3500 worldwide.
Asian Buffalo Fun Facts
What does an Asian buffalo look like?
The Asian water buffalo is a wild cattle and is considered the ancestor of the domestic water buffalo. They are big cows who are gray to black in color. They have a large body size and weight.
Wild water buffalo grows in length to the extent of 94.5-118.1 in (240-300 cm). And their height ranges between 59-74.8 in (150-190 cm).
Both males and females have narrow heads and longhorns and long tails. The body of the tail has small hairs on it, and the end of the tail has long hairs and is quite bushy. A lot of their characteristics are similar to the domestic buffalo (Asiatic).
How cute are they?
They are extremely cute and adorable. They are very innocent-looking animals and people also keep their relative species as pets.
How do they communicate?
Asian wild water buffalo communicate through their long typical calls. They make different types of sounds like snorts, coughs, roars, and grunts, depending on the situation. They are calm creatures seen wandering in deep mud and chewing on aquatic plants and weeds.
How big is an Asian buffalo?
Asian water buffalo are of huge size. They have a long and fat body and are very strong. Their body length varies between 94.5-118.1 in (240-300 cm), and their height varies between 59-75 in (150-190 cm). The bodyweight of a wild Asian water buffalo is around 1322.8 to 2645.5 lb (600-1200 kg).
How fast can an Asian buffalo run?
Wild Asian water buffalo are bulky and heavy creatures, but when chased by predators, tigers, and wolves, they can run at a speed of around 30 mph (48.3 kph).
How much does an Asian buffalo weigh?
Wild Asian water buffalo are big and strong animals who can be dangerous at times. They are heavier than all the cattle species who live nearby. Their maximum weight range is between 1322.8 to 2645.5 lb (600-1200 kg), which is more than the domesticated water buffalo. The weight of a domesticated water buffalo is between 661.4-1212.5 lb (300-550 kg).
What are the male and female names of the species?
There are no specific names attached to buffalo males and females. However, a male and a female cattle species are commonly known as a bull and a cow. The male buffalo is comparatively bigger and heavier than a female buffalo. The male buffalo also looks more rough and bulky.
What would you call a baby Asian buffalo?
Young cattle are known as calves. Female buffalos become pregnant once a year and give birth to a single calf. Young calves are very adorable and are very energetic. They can be seen jumping and running in fields, swinging their little tail.
What do they eat?
The wild Asian water buffalos, like the buffalos, are purely herbivorous in nature. They enjoy a huge variety of food as they eat everything that is green. Some of the foods that they love eating include grass, leaves, vegetables, fruits, plants in the swamp. But still, the most favorite among these are water plants and grass.
Are they poisonous?
They carry no poison in them. But messing with them can turn out to be dangerous and life-threatening. Though they possess calm behavior most of the time, if someone tries to harm them or mess them, it can cause serious harm.
Would they make a good pet?
Wild Asian buffalos (Bubalus arnee) are not kept as pets; rather, their subspecies domestic water buffalos (Bubalus bubalis) are kept as pets. They are kept as pets but not like a dog or a cat.
They are kept on the farm for domestic help. Domestic males, the bulls, are helpful in the field of ploughing, and because of that, they are also called the living tractor of the east. Females, on the other hand, give a lot of milk.
Buffalo milk is very nutritious and somewhat costly. So selling the milk helps the owner in earning money.
Did you know...
Wild Asian water buffalo (Bubalus arnee) and the domestic Asian water buffalo (Bubalus bubalis) are from the same family but have many characteristic differences. Some visible differences are such as the wild water buffalo is bigger and heavier than the domesticated buffalo, and they have different sized horns.
The horns of the wild buffalo are bigger and longer than domestic buffalo horns.
Naming the Asian buffalo
The Asian buffalo is also known as the wild water buffalo, wild Asian buffalo, and Asiatic buffalo. They are called 'water buffalo' because of their affection towards the water and marshy areas.
They spend a lot of time in the mud and muddy areas in a day. They have a wide hoof or feet that prevents them from sinking in the mud and enables them to move freely.
Do they go underwater?
Yes! They go underwater. Water plants are one of their favorite foods, and in search of that, they submerge themselves in water. Their wide feet never let them get stuck in the mud. And yes, buffalos can swim too.
Here at Kidadl, we have carefully created lots of interesting family-friendly animal facts for everyone to discover! For more relatable content, check out these pygmy marmoset facts and Nubian ibex facts for kids.
You can even occupy yourself at home by coloring in one of our free printable Asian buffalo coloring pages.
