Water buffalo

Water buffalo
Female water buffalo and calf
Conservation status
Domesticated
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	Artiodactyla
Family:	Bovidae
Subfamily:	Bovinae
Genus:	Bubalus
Species:	B. arnee
Binomial name
Bubalus arnee (Linnaeus, 1758)
Subspecies
River buffalo (Bubalus arnee bubalis) Swamp buffalo (Bubalus arnee carabanesis)
Global distribution of buffalo in 2004

The water buffalo or domestic Asian water buffalo is a large bovid originating in South Asia, Southeast Asia, and China. Today, it is also found in Europe, Australia, South America and some African countries.^[1] The wild water buffalo (Bubalus arnee arnee) native to Southeast Asia is considered a different species, but most likely represents the ancestor of the domestic water buffalo.^[2]

Two extant types of domestic water buffalo are recognized based on morphological and behavioural criteria – the river buffalo (Bubalus arnee bubalis) of South Asia and further west to the Balkans, Egypt, and Italy, and the swamp buffalo (Bubalus arnee carabanesis), found from Assam in the west through Southeast Asia to the Yangtze valley of China in the east.^[1][3] The origins of the domestic water buffalo types are debated, although results of a phylogenetic study indicate that the swamp type may have originated in China and was domesticated about 4,000 years ago, while the river type may have originated from India and was domesticated about 5,000 years ago.^[4] Water buffalo were traded from the Indus Valley Civilisation to Mesopotamia, in modern Iraq, 2500 BC by the Meluhhas.^[5] The seal of a scribe employed by an Akkadian king shows the sacrifice of water buffalo.^[6]

At least 130 million domestic water buffalo exist, and more people depend on them than on any other domestic animal.^[7] They are especially suitable for tilling rice fields, and their milk is richer in fat and protein than that of dairy cattle. The large feral population of northern Australia became established in the late 19th century, and smaller feral herds are in New Guinea, Tunisia, and northeastern Argentina.^[1] Feral herds are also present in New Britain, New Ireland, Irian Jaya, Papua New Guinea, Colombia, Guyana, Suriname, Brazil, and Uruguay.^[8]

Characteristics

The skin of river buffalo is black, but some specimens may have dark, slate-coloured skin. Swamp buffalo have a grey skin at birth, but become slate blue later. Albinoids are present in some populations. River buffalo have comparatively longer faces, smaller girths, and bigger limbs than swamp buffalo. Their dorsal ridges extend further back and taper off more gradually. Their horns grow downward and backward, then curve upward in a spiral. Swamp buffalo are heavy-bodied and stockily built; the body is short and the belly large. The forehead is flat, the eyes prominent, the face short, and the muzzle wide. The neck is comparatively long, and the withers and croup are prominent. A dorsal ridge extends backward and ends abruptly just before the end of the chest. Their horns grow outward, and curve in a semicircle, but always remain more or less on the plane of the forehead. The tail is short, reaching only to the hocks. Height at withers is 129–133 cm (51–52 in) for males, and 120–127 cm (47–50 in) for females. They range in weight from 300–550 kg (660–1,210 lb), but weights of over 1,000 kg (2,200 lb) have also been observed.^[1]

Tedong bonga is a black pied buffalo featuring a unique black and white colouration that is favoured by the Toraja of Sulawesi.^[9]

The swamp buffalo has 48 chromosomes; the river buffalo has 50 chromosomes. The two types do not readily interbreed, but fertile offspring can occur. Buffalo-cattle hybrids have not been observed to occur, but the embryos of such hybrids reach maturity in laboratory experiments, albeit at lower rates than non-hybrids.^[10]

The rumen of the water buffalo has important differences from that of other ruminants.^[11] It contains a larger population of bacteria, particularly the cellulolytic bacteria, lower protozoa, and higher fungi zoospores. In addition, higher rumen ammonia nitrogen (NH₄-N) and higher pH have been found as compared to those in cattle.^[12]

Ecology and behavior

River buffalo prefer deep water. Swamp buffalo prefer to wallow in mudholes which they make with their horns. During wallowing, they acquire a thick coating of mud.^[1] Both are well adapted to a hot and humid climate with temperatures ranging from 0 °C (32 °F) in the winter to 30 °C (86 °F) and greater in the summer. Water availability is important in hot climates, since they need wallows, rivers, or splashing water to assist in thermoregulation. Some breeds are adapted to saline seaside shores and saline sandy terrain.^[13]

Diet

Water buffalo thrive on many aquatic plants and during floods, will graze submerged, raising their heads above the water and carrying quantities of edible plants. They eat reeds, Arundo donax, a kind of Cyperaceae, Eichhornia crassipes, and Juncaceae. Some of these plants are of great value to local peoples. Others, such as E. crassipes, are a major problem in some tropical valleys and water buffalo may help to keep waterways clear.

Green fodders are used widely for intensive milk production and for fattening. Many fodder crops are conserved as hay, chaffed, or pulped. Fodders include alfalfa, the leaves, stems or trimmings of banana, cassava, Mangelwurzel, esparto, Leucaena leucocephala and kenaf, maize, oats, pandaros, peanut, sorghum, soybean, sugarcane, bagasse, and turnips. Citrus pulp and pineapple wastes have been fed safely to buffalo. In Egypt, whole sun-dried dates are fed to milk buffalo up to 25% of the standard feed mixture.^[1]

Reproduction

Swamp buffalo generally become reproductive at an older age than river breeds. Young males in Egypt, India, and Pakistan are first mated at about 3.0–3.5 years of age, but in Italy they may be used as early as 2 years of age. Successful mating behaviour may continue until the animal is 12 years or even older. A good river male can impregnate 100 females in a year. A strong seasonal influence on mating occurs. Heat stress reduces libido.^[1]

Although buffalo are polyoestrous, their reproductive efficiency shows wide variation throughout the year. Buffalo cows exhibit a distinct seasonal change in displaying oestrus, conception rate, and calving rate.^[14] The age at first oestrus of heifers varies between breeds from 13–33 months, but mating at the first oestrus is often infertile and usually deferred until they are 3 years old. Gestation lasts from 281–334 days, but most reports give a range between 300 and 320 days. Swamp buffalo carry their calves for one or two weeks longer than river buffalo. It is not rare to find buffalo that continue to work well at the age of 30, and instances of a working life of 40 years are recorded.^[1]

Taxonomic history

Carl Linnaeus first described the genus Bos and the water buffalo under the binomial Bubalis bubalus in 1758; the latter was known to occur in Asia and as a domestic form in Italy.^[15] Ellerman and Morrison-Scott treated the wild and domestic forms of the water buffalo as conspecifics^[16] whereas others treated them as different species.^[17] The nomenclatorial treatment of wild and domestic forms has been inconsistent and varies between authors and even within the works of single authors.^[18]

In March 2003, the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature achieved consistency in the naming of wild and domestic water buffalo by ruling that the scientific name Bubalus arnee is valid for the wild form.^[19] B. bubalis continues to be valid for the domestic form and applies also to feral populations.^[20]

Domestication and breeding

Water buffalo were domesticated in Indian subcontinent about 5000 years ago, and in China about 4000 years ago. Two types are recognized, based on morphological and behavioural criteria – the river buffalo of the Indian subcontinent and further west to the Balkans and Italy, and the swamp buffalo, found from Assam in the west through Southeast Asia to the Yangtze valley of China in the east.^[3] The present-day river buffalo is the result of complex domestication processes involving more than one maternal lineage and a significant maternal gene flow from wild populations after the initial domestication events.^[21] Twenty-two breeds of the river type water buffalo are known, including Murrah, NiliRavi, Surti, Jafarabadi, Anatolian, Mediterranean, and Egyptian buffalo.^[22] China has a huge variety of buffalo genetic resources, comprising 16 local swamp buffalo breeds in various regions.^[13]

Results of mitochondrial DNA analyses indicate that the two types were domesticated independently.^[23] Sequencing of cytochrome b genes of Bubalus species implies that the domestic buffalo originated from at least two populations, and that the river and the swamp types have differentiated at the full species level. The genetic distance between the two types is so large that a divergence time of about 1.7 million years has been suggested. The swamp type was noticed to have the closest relationship with the tamaraw.^[24]

Distribution of populations

The water buffalo population in the world is about 172 million.^[25]

In Asia

More than 95.8% of the world population of water buffalo are found in Asia, including both river and swamp types.^[13] The water buffalo population in India numbered over 97.9 million head in 2003, representing 56.5% of the world population. They are primarily of the river type, with 10 well-defined breeds comprising Badhawari, Murrah, Nili-Ravi, Jafarabadi, Marathwada, Mehsana, Nagpuri, Pandharpuri, Toda, and Surti. Swamp buffalo occur only in small areas in the north-eastern part of the country and are not distinguished into breeds.^[26]

In 2003, the second-largest population lived in China, with 22.76 million head, all of the swamp type with breeds kept only in the lowlands, and other breeds kept only in the mountains; as of 2003, 3.2 million swamp-type carabao buffalo were in the Philippines, nearly three million swamp buffalo were in Vietnam, and 772,764 buffalo were in Bangladesh. About 750,000 head were estimated in Sri Lanka in 1997.^[13] In Japan, water buffalo is domestic animal throughout the Ryukyuan islands or Okinawa prefecture. It was also recorded that 889,246 buffalo were in Nepal.

The water buffalo is the main dairy animal in Pakistan, with 23.47 million head in 2010.^[27] Of these, 76% are kept in the Punjab. The rest of them are mostly in the province of Sindh. Breeds used are NiliRavi, Kundi, and Azi Kheli.^[28] Karachi has the largest population of water buffalos for an area where fodder is not grown, consisting of 350,000 head kept mainly for milking.

In Thailand, the number of water buffalo dropped from more than 3 million head in 1996 to less than 1.24 million head in 2011.^[29] Slightly over 75% of them are kept in the country's northeastern region. The statistics also indicate that by the beginning of 2012, less than one million were in the country, partly as a result of illegal shipments to neighboring countries where sales prices are higher than in Thailand.

Water buffalo are also present in the southern region of Iraq in the Mesopotamian Marshes. The draining of the Mesopotamian Marshes by Saddam Hussein was an attempt to punish the south for the 1991 uprisings in Iraq. After 2003 and the Firdos Square statue destruction, these lands were reflooded and a 2007 report on Maysan and Dhi Qar shows a steady increase in the number of water buffalo. The report puts the number at 40,008 head in those two provinces.^[30]

In Europe and the Mediterranean

Water buffalo were probably introduced to Europe from India or other Oriental countries. In Italy, the Longobard King Agilulf is said to have received water buffalo in about the year 600. These were probably a present from the Khan of the Avars, a Turkic nomadic tribe that dwelt near the Danube River at the time. Sir H. Johnston knew of a herd of water buffalo presented by a King of Naples to the Bey of Tunis in the mid-19th century that had resumed the feral state in northern Tunis.^[31]

European buffalo are all of the river type and considered to be of the same breed named Mediterranean buffalo. In Italy, the Mediterranean type was particularly selected and is called Mediterranean Italian breed to distinguish it from other European breeds, which differ genetically. Mediterranean buffalo are also found in Romania, Bulgaria, Greece, Albania, Kosovo, and the Republic of Macedonia, with a few hundred in the United Kingdom, Germany, the Netherlands, Switzerland, and Hungary. Little exchange of breeding buffalo has occurred among countries, so each population has its own phenotypic features and performances. In Bulgaria, they were crossbred with the Indian Murrah breed, and in Romania, some were crossbred with Bulgarian Murrah.^[13] Populations in Turkey are of the Anatolian buffalo breed.^[22]

In Australia

Between 1824 and 1849, water buffalo were introduced into the Northern Territory from Timor, Kisar, and probably other islands in the Indonesian archipelago. In 1886, a few milking types were brought from India to Darwin. They have been the main grazing animals on the subcoastal plains and river basins between Darwin and Arnhem Land since the 1880s. In the early 1960s, an estimated population of 150,000 to 200,000 buffalo were living in the plains and nearby areas.^[32]

They became feral and are causing significant environmental damage. Buffalo are also found in the Top End. As a result, they were hunted in the Top End from 1885 until 1980. The commencement of the brucellosis and tuberculosis campaign (BTEC) resulted in a huge culling program to reduce buffalo herds to a fraction of the numbers that were reached in the 1980s. The BTEC was finished when the Northern Territory was declared free of the disease in 1997. Numbers dropped dramatically as a result of the campaign, but have since recovered to an estimated 150,000 animals across northern Australia in 2008.^[33]

During the 1950s, buffalo were hunted for their skins and meat, which was exported and used in the local trade. In the late 1970s, live exports were made to Cuba and continued later into other countries. Buffalo are now crossed with riverine buffalo in artificial insemination programs, and may be found in many areas of Australia. Some of these crossbreds are used for milk production. Melville Island is a popular hunting location, where a steady population up to 4,000 individuals exists. Safari outfits are run from Darwin to Melville Island and other locations in the Top End, often with the use of bush pilots. The horns, which can measure up to a record of 3.1 m (10 ft) tip-to-tip, are prized hunting trophies.^[34]

The buffalo have developed a different appearance from the Indonesian buffalo from which they descend. They live mainly in freshwater marshes and billabongs, and their territory range can be quite expansive during the wet season. Their only natural predators in Australia are adult saltwater crocodiles, with whom they share the billabongs, and dingoes, which have been known to prey on buffalo calves and occasionally adult buffalo when the dingoes are in large packs.

Buffalo were exported live to Indonesia until 2011, at a rate of about 3000 per year. After the live export ban that year, the exports dropped to zero, and had not resumed as of June 2013.^[35]

In South America

Water buffalo were introduced into the Amazon River basin in 1895. They are now extensively used there for meat and dairy production. In 2005, the buffalo herd in the Brazilian Amazon stood at roughly 1.6 million head, of which 460,000 were located in the lower Amazon floodplain.^[36] Breeds used include Mediterranean from Italy, Murrah and Jafarabadi from India, and Carabao from the Philippines.

During the 1970s, small herds were imported to Costa Rica, Ecuador, Cayenne, Panama, Surinam, Guyana, and Venezuela.^[37]

In Argentina, many game ranches raise water buffalo for commercial hunting.

In North America

In 1974, four water buffalo were imported to the United States from Guam to be studied at the University of Florida. In February 1978, the first herd arrived for commercial farming. Until 2002, only one commercial breeder was in the United States. Water buffalo meat is imported from Australia.^[37] Until 2011, water buffalo were raised in Gainesville, Florida, from young obtained from zoo overflow. They were used primarily for meat production, frequently sold as hamburger.^[38] Other US ranchers use them for production of high-quality mozzarella cheese.^{[39][40][41][42]}

Husbandry

The husbandry system of water buffalo depends on the purpose for which they are bred and maintained. Most of them are kept by people who work on small farms in family units. Their buffalo live in very close association with them, and are often their greatest capital asset. The women and girls in India generally look after the milking buffalo while the men and boys are concerned with the working animals. Throughout Asia, they are commonly tended by children who are often seen leading or riding their charges to wallowing places. Water buffalo are the ideal animals for work in the deep mud of paddy fields because of their large hooves and flexible foot joints. They are often referred to as "the living tractor of the East". It probably is possible to plough deeper with buffalo than with either oxen or horses. They are the most efficient and economical means of cultivation of small fields. In most rice-producing countries, they are used for threshing and for transporting the sheaves during the rice harvest. They provide power for oilseed mills, sugarcane presses, and devices for raising water. They are widely used as pack animals, and in India and Pakistan also for heavy haulage. In their invasions of Europe, the Turks used buffalo for hauling heavy battering rams. Their dung is used as a fertilizer, and as a fuel when dried.^[1]

Buffalo contribute 72 million tones of milk and three million tones of meat annually to world food, much of it in areas that are prone to nutritional imbalances. In India, river-type buffalo are kept mainly for milk production and for transport, whereas swamp-type buffalo are kept mainly for work and a small amount of milk.^[26]

Dairy products

Water buffalo milk presents physicochemical features different from that of other ruminant species, such as a higher content of fatty acids and proteins.^[43] The physical and chemical parameters of swamp and river type water buffalo milk differ.^[44] Water buffalo milk contains higher levels of total solids, crude protein, fat, calcium, and phosphorus, and slightly higher content of lactose compared with those of cow milk. The high level of total solids makes water buffalo milk ideal for processing into value-added dairy products such as cheese. The conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) content in milk ranged from 4.4 mg/g fat in September to 7.6 mg/g fat in June. Seasons and genetics may play a role in variation of CLA level and changes in gross composition of the water buffalo milk.^[45]

Water buffalo milk is processed into a large variety of dairy products:^[46]

• Cream churns much faster at higher fat levels and gives higher overrun than cow cream.
• Butter from water buffalo cream displays more stability than that from cow cream.
• Ghee from water buffalo milk has a different texture with a bigger grain size than ghee from cow milk.
• Heat-concentrated milk products in the Indian subcontinent include paneer, khoa, rabri, kheer and basundi.
• Fermented milk products include dahi, yogurt, and chakka.
• Whey is used for making ricotta and mascarpone in Italy, and alkarish in Syria and Egypt.
• Soft cheeses made include mozzarella in Italy, karish, mish, and domiati in Egypt, madhfor in Iraq, alghab in Syria, kesong puti in the Philippines, and vladeasa in Romania.
• The semihard cheese beyaz peynir is made in Turkey.
• Hard cheeses include braila in Romania, rahss in Egypt,^[47] white brine in Bulgaria, and akkawi in Syria.
• Watered-down buffalo milk is used as a cheaper alternative to regular milk.^[48]

Top ten buffalo milk producers — 11 June 2008[49]
Country	Production (tonnes)	Footnote
India	56,960,000	Unofficial, Semi-official, mirror data
Pakistan	21,500,000	official figure
People's Republic of China	2,900,000	FAO estimate
Egypt	2,300,000	FAO estimate
Nepal	930,000	FAO estimate
Iran	241,500	FAO estimate
Myanmar	205,000	FAO estimate
Italy	200,000	FAO estimate
Turkey	35,100	FAO estimate
Vietnam	31,000	FAO estimate
World	85 396 902

Meat and skin products

Water buffalo meat, sometimes called "carabeef", is often passed off as beef in certain regions, and is also a major source of export revenue for India. In many Asian regions, buffalo meat is less preferred due to its toughness; however, recipes have evolved (rendang, for example) where the slow cooking process and spices not only make the meat palatable, but also preserve it, an important factor in hot climates where refrigeration is not always available.

Their hides provide tough and useful leather, often used for shoes.

Bone and horn products

The bones and horns are often made into jewellery, especially earrings. Horns are used for the embouchure of musical instruments, such as ney and kaval.^[50]

Environmental effects

Wildlife conservation scientists have started to recommend and use introduced populations of feral domestic water buffalo in far-away lands to manage uncontrolled vegetation growth in and around natural wetlands. Introduced water buffalo at home in such environs provide cheap service by regularly grazing the uncontrolled vegetation and opening up clogged water bodies for waterfowl, wetland birds, and other wildlife.^[51][52] Grazing water buffalo are sometimes used in Great Britain for conservation grazing, such as in Chippenham Fen National Nature Reserve. The buffalo can better adapt to wet conditions and poor-quality vegetation than cattle.^[53]

Currently, research is being conducted at the Lyle Center for Regenerative Studies to determine the levels of nutrients removed and returned to wetlands when water buffalo are used for wetland vegetation management.

However, in uncontrolled circumstances, water buffalo can cause environmental damage, such as trampling vegetation, disturbing bird and reptile nesting sites, and spreading exotic weeds.^[54]

Research

In 2007, the development of Southeast Asia's first cloned buffalo was announced in the Philippines. The Department of Agriculture's Philippine Carabao Center implemented cloning through somatic cell nuclear transfer as a tool for genetic improvement in water buffalo to produce "super buffalo calves" by multiplying existing germplasms but without modifying or altering genetic material.^[55]

In January 2008, the Philippine Carabao Center in Nueva Ecija, per Filipino scientists, initiated a study to breed a super water buffalo that could produce 4 to 18 litres of milk per day using gene-based technology. Also, the first in vitro river buffalo was born there in 2004 from an in vitro-produced, vitrified embryo, named "Glory" after President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. Joseph Estrada's most successful project as an opposition senator, the PCC was created through Republic Act 3707, the Carabao Act of 1992.^[56]

Indian scientists from the National Dairy Research Institute, Karnal developed a cloned buffalo in 2010. The buffalo calf was named Samrupa. The calf did not survive more than a week, due to genetic defects. A few months later, a second cloned calf was successfully born, named Garima.^[57] The Central Institute for Research on Buffaloes, India's premier research institute on buffalo, also became the second institute in the world to successfully clone the buffalo in 2016.^[58][59]

In culture

• Some ethnic groups, such as Batak and Toraja in Indonesia and the Derung in China, sacrifice water buffalo or kerbau (called horbo in Batak or tedong in Toraja) at several festivals.
• Legend has it that the Chinese philosophical sage Laozi left China through the Han Gu Pass riding a water buffalo.
• According to Hindu lore, the god of death Yama, rides on a male water buffalo. The Hindu goddesses Varahi and Vihot Mata also ride on buffalo as their vahana.
• According to another folk lore, Mahishasura, a half-buffalo and half-human demon, was killed by goddess Durga.
• The Yoruban Orisha Oya (goddess of change) takes the form of a water buffalo.
• The carabao breed is considered a national symbol of the Philippines.
• In Vietnam, water buffalo are often the most valuable possession of poor farmers: 'Con trâu là đầu cơ nghiệp'. They are treated as a member of the family: 'Chồng cày, vợ cấy, con trâu đi bừa', meaning 'the husband ploughs, the wife sows, water buffalo draws the rake'. Children talk to their water buffalo: 'Bao giờ cây lúa còn bông. Thì còn ngọn cỏ ngoài đồng trâu ăn'. Hà Nội used to be named Kim Ngưu - Golden Water Buffalo.
• Many ethnic groups use the horn of water buffalo as a game trophy, musical instruments and ornaments.
• In the Thai and Sinhalese animal and planetary zodiac, the buffalo is the third animal zodiac of the Thai and the fourth animal zodiac of the Sinhalese people of Sri Lanka.^[60] Similarly, the water buffalo is the second animal zodiac in the Vietnamese zodiac.

Fighting festivals

• Pasungay Festival is held annually in the town of San Joaquin, Iloilo in the Philippines.
• Moh juj Water Buffalo fighting is held every year in Bhogali Bihu in Assam.^[61] Ahotguri in Nagaon is famous for it.
• Do Son Water Buffalo Fighting Festival of Vietnam is held each year on the ninth day of the eighth month of the lunar calendar at Do Son Township, Haiphong City in Vietnam. It is one of the most popular Vietnam festivals and events in Haiphong City. The preparations for this buffalo fighting festival begin from the two to three months earlier. The competing buffalo are selected and methodically trained months in advance. It is a traditional festival of Vietnam attached to a Water God worshipping ceremony and the Hien Sinh custom to show martial spirit of the local people of Do Son, Haiphong.^[62][63]
• "Hai Luu" Water Buffalo Fighting Festival of Vietnam has existed since the 2nd century B.C. General Lu Gia at that time, had the buffalo slaughtered to give a feast to the local people and the warriors, and organized buffalo fighting for amusement. Eventually, all the fighting buffalo will be slaughtered as tributes to the deities.^[64][65]
• "Ko Samui" Water Buffalo Fighting Festival of Thailand is a very popular event held on special occasions such as New Year's Day in January, and Songkran in mid-April, this festival features head-wrestling bouts in which two male Asian water buffalo are pitted against one another. Unlike in Spanish Bullfighting, wherein bulls get killed while fighting sword-wielding men, Buffalo Fighting Festival held at Ko Samui, Thailand is fairly harmless contest. The fighting season varies according to ancient customs & ceremonies. The first Buffalo to turn and run away is considered the loser, the winning buffalo becomes worth several million baht.^[66]
• "Ma'Pasilaga Tedong" Water Buffalo Fighting Festival, in Tana Toraja Regency of Sulawesi Island, Indonesia, is a popular event where the Rambu Solo or a Burial Festival took place in Tana Toraja.

Racing festivals

• Carabao Carroza Festival is being held annually every May in the town of Pavia, Iloilo, Philippines.
• Kambala races of Karnataka, India, take place between December and March. The races are conducted by having the water buffalo (he buffalo) run in long parallel slushy ditches, where they are driven by men standing on wooden planks drawn by the buffalo. The objectives of the race are to finish first and to raise the water to the greatest height and also a rural sport. Kambala races are arranged with competition, as well as without competition and as a part of thanks giving (to god) in about 50 villages of coastal Karnataka.
• In the Chonburi Province of Thailand, and in Pakistan, there are annual water buffalo races.
• Chon Buri Water buffalo racing festival, Thailand^[67] In downtown Chonburi, 70 km (43 mi) south of Bangkok, at the annual water buffalo festival held in mid-October. About 300 buffalo race in groups of five or six, spurred on by bareback jockeys wielding wooden sticks, as hundreds of spectators cheer. The water buffalo has always played an important role in agriculture in Thailand. For farmers of Chon Buri Province, near Bangkok, it is an important annual festival, beginning in mid-October. It is also a celebration among rice farmers before the rice harvest. At dawn, farmers walk their buffalo through surrounding rice fields, splashing them with water to keep them cool before leading them to the race field. This amazing festival started over a hundred years ago when two men arguing about whose buffalo was the fastest ended up having a race between them. That’s how it became a tradition and gradually a social event for farmers who gathered from around the country in Chonburi to trade their goods. The festival also helps a great deal in preserving the number of buffalo, which have been dwindling at quite an alarming rate in other regions. Modern machinery is rapidly replacing buffalo in Thai agriculture. With most of the farm work mechanized, the buffalo-racing tradition has continued. Racing buffalo are now raised just to race; they do not work at all. The few farm buffalo which still do work are much bigger than the racers because of the strenuous work they perform. Farm buffalo are in the "Buffalo Beauty Pageant", a Miss Farmer beauty contest and a comic buffalo costume contest etc.. This festival perfectly exemplifies a favored Thai attitude to life — "sanuk," meaning fun.
• Babulang Water buffalo racing festival in Sarawak, Malaysia, is the largest or grandest of the many rituals, ceremonies and festivals of the traditional Bisaya community of Limbang, Sarawak. Highlights are the Ratu Babulang competition and the Water buffalo races which can only be found in this town in Sarawak, Malaysia.
• Vihear Suor village Water buffalo racing festival, Cambodia,^[68] each year, people visit Buddhist temples across the country to honor their deceased loved ones during a 15-day period commonly known as the Festival of the Dead but in Vihear Suor village, about 22 miles (35 km) northeast of Cambodia, citizens each year wrap up the festival with a water buffalo race to entertain visitors and honour a pledge made hundreds of years ago. There was a time when many village cattle which provide rural Cambodians with muscle power to plough their fields and transport agricultural products died from an unknown disease. The villagers prayed to a spirit to help save their animals from the disease and promised to show their gratitude by holding a buffalo race each year on the last day of "P'chum Ben" festival as it is known in Cambodian. The race draws hundreds of spectators who come to see riders and their animals charge down the racing field, the racers bouncing up and down on the backs of their buffalo, whose horns were draped with colorful cloth.
• Buffalo racing in Kerala is similar to Kambala races.^[69][70]

Religious festival

• The Pulilan Carabao Festival is held annually every 14 and 15 May in the Philippine town of Pulilan in honor of St. Isidore the Laborer, the patron saint of farmers. As thanksgiving for a bountiful harvest every year, farmers parade their carabaos in the main town street, adorning them with garlands and other decorations. One of the highlights of the festival is the kneeling of the carabaos in front of the parish church.^[71]

See also

• Wild African buffalo (Syncerus caffer)
• List of water buffalo breeds
• Cattle in religion
• Zebu, the common breed of domestic cattle from India

References

Further reading

• Clutton-Brock, J. 1999. A Natural History of Domesticated Mammals. Cambridge UK : Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-63495-4.
• Guinness Book of Records, 2005
• Nowak, R.M. and Paradiso, J.L. 1983. Walker's Mammals of the World. Baltimore, Maryland, USA: The Johns Hopkins University Press. ISBN 0-8018-2525-3
• Voelker, W. 1986. The Natural History of Living Mammals. Medford, New Jersey, USA: Plexus Publishing, Inc. ISBN 0-937548-08-1.
• Roth, J. and P. Myers. "Bubalis Bubalis", University of Michigan Museum of Zoology Animal Diversity Web. Retrieved on 15 January 2009
• Fahimuddin, M. 1989. Domestic Water Buffalo. Janpath, New Delhi: Oxford & IBH Publishing Co. Pvt. Ltd. ISBN 81-204-0402-5.
• The Water Buffalo: New Prospects For An Underutilized Animal. Washington, D.C. 1981. National Academy Press. ISBN 978-0-309-04159-1.
• Wilson, D. E. and Reeder, D. M. 1993. Mammal Species of the World, Second Edition, A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference. Smithsonian Institution.
• Ruangprim, T. et al. 2007. Rumen microbes and ecology of male dairy, beef cattle and buffaloes. In: Proceedings Animal Science Annual Meeting, Khon Kaen University, Khon Kaen 40002, Thailand.
• Thu, Nguyen Van and T. R. Preston. 1999. Rumen environment and feed degradability in swamp buffaloes fed different supplements. Livestock Research for Rural Development 11 (3)
• Wanapat, M. 2000. Rumen manipulation to increase the efficient use of local feed resources and productivity of ruminants in the tropics. Asian-Aust. J. Anim. Sci. 13(Suppl.): 59-67.
• Wanapat, M. and P. Rowlinson. 2007. Nutrition and feeding of swamp buffalo: Feed resources and rumen approach. Paper to be presented at the VIII World Buffalo Congress, 19–22 October 2007, Caserta, Italy, organized by The International Buffalo Federation.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Water buffalo.

Wikispecies has information related to: Water buffalo

Wikisource has the text of an 1879 American Cyclopædia article about Water buffalo.

• Feral buffalo in Australia
• Animal Info: Wild Asian (Water) Buffalo
• Creature features: Buffaloes
• Breeds of Livestock: Murrah
• National Agricultural Innovation Project: Identification of Quantitative Trait Loci for Milk yield, Fat and Protein Percent in Buffaloes