Wild Asiatic water buffalo
| Wild water buffalo | |
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| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Artiodactyla |
| Family: | Bovidae |
| Subfamily: | Bovinae |
| Genus: | Bubalus |
| Species: | B. arnee |
| Binomial name | |
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Bubalus arnee (Kerr, 1792) |
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| Asiatic water buffalo range | |
The wild water buffalo (Bubalus arnee), also called Asian buffalo, Asiatic buffalo and Wild Asian Buffalo, is a large bovine native to the Indian Subcontinent and Southeast Asia. It has been listed as Endangered in the IUCN Red List since 1986, as the remaining population totals less than 4,000. A population decline of at least 50% over the last three generations (24–30 years) is projected to continue. The global population has been estimated at 3,400 individuals, of which 3,100 (91%) live in India, mostly in Assam. The wild water buffalo is the probable ancestor of the domestic water buffalo.
Wild water buffalo are larger and heavier than domestic buffalo, and weigh from 600 to 1,200 kg (1,300 to 2,600 lb). The average weight of three captive wild water buffalo was 900 kg (2,000 lb). Their head-to-body-length is 240 to 300 cm (94 to 118 in) with a tail 60 to 100 cm (24 to 39 in) long, and a shoulder height of 150 to 190 cm (59 to 75 in). Both sexes carry horns that are heavy at the base and widely spreading up to 2 m (79 in) along the outer edges, exceeding in size the horns of any other living bovid. Their skin color is ash gray to black. The moderately long, coarse and sparse hair is directed forward from the haunches to the long and narrow head. There is a tuft on the forehead, and the ears are comparatively small. The tip of the tail is bushy; the hooves are large and splayed. They rank alongside the gaur as the heaviest living wild bovid species, as both attain similar average if not maximum weights, although, with their stockier, shorter-legged frame, wild water buffalo are somewhat less in length and height than the gaur.
Wild water buffalo occur in India, Nepal, Bhutan, Sri Lanka, Thailand, and Cambodia, with an unconfirmed population in Myanmar. They have been extirpated in Pakistan, Bangladesh, Laos, and Vietnam. They are associated with wet grasslands, swamps and densely vegetated river valleys.
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Wikipedia