|Domestic Asian Water buffalo|
|Domestic Asian Water buffaloes at a ranch in Arkansas, USA|
Water buffalos are a kind of bovine. There are Wild Asian Water Buffalos and domestic buffalos or domestic Asian water buffalo. They are bred in Asia, South America and Southern Europe. They were bred from the Wild Asian Water Buffalo, which is now an endangered species.
Today, these buffalos are used for their milk, which has more fat than that of cows. The milk is processed to make Mozzarella, and curd. Feral populations are sometimes used to manage uncontrolled growth of vegetation around wetlands. They will simply graze it off. This keeps such bodies of water usable by birds and other wildlife.
Females normally give birth to calves every other year. Young bulls usually stay with herds of mothers, which have about 30 buffalo, for three years after birth. They then go on to form small all-male herds.
References[change | edit source]
- Buffalo improve wildlife habitat - The Wildlife Trust of South and West Wales use the formidable beasts to help in conservation work at the 264-acre Teifi Marshes reserve; BBC, 15 February, 2004
- "Buffalos and wetlands" -- grazing in wetland management: A discussion from the Ramsar Forum over late March 1998
- "Water Buffalo, Water Buffalo Pictures, Water Buffalo Facts - National Geographic". animals.nationalgeographic.com. http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/mammals/water-buffalo/. Retrieved 1 April 2010.