Domestic Water Buffalo
Bubalus bubalis
🐃
Chordata
Mammalia
Artiodactyla
Pecora
Bovidae
Bubalus
Bubalus bubalis
The Living Tractor of the East, the Water Buffalo is a massive, marsh-loving bovine whose strength and adaptability have shaped Asian agriculture for millennia. Once hunted in the wild wetlands of South and Southeast Asia, it later became one of humanity’s most valuable domesticated animals.
Description
Water Buffalo (Bubalus bubalis) — The water buffalo, sometimes called the “Asian buffalo,” is a large bovid native to the wetlands, swamps, and river valleys of South and Southeast Asia. Its domesticated forms are divided into two main types: the river buffalo of India and West Asia, and the swamp buffalo of Southeast Asia and southern China. Adapted to humid, muddy environments, these animals cool themselves by wallowing in water or mud, which also protects them from insects and heat.
Wild males can weigh up to 1,200 kg, while domesticated ones typically range between 400–900 kg. Shoulder height reaches 1.8 m, and body length up to 3 m. Their wide-splayed hooves make them ideal for navigating wetlands.
Today, over 150 million water buffalo live worldwide, providing milk richer in fat and protein than that of cattle, as well as meat, hides, and agricultural power. The wild ancestor, Bubalus arnee, however, remains Endangered, with fewer than 4,000 pure individuals left in fragmented populations across India, Nepal, and Southeast Asia.
Quick Facts
Max Mass
Shoulder Height
Standing Height
Length
Diet
Trophic Level
900
1.7
2.55
3
kg
m
m
m
Mixed Feeder
Omnivores – Balanced
Hunt History
Before domestication, wild water buffalo were hunted extensively across the floodplains of the Ganges, Brahmaputra, and Mekong river systems. Early Holocene hunter-gatherers prized their meat, hide, and massive horns. Herd-hunting likely involved ambushes near river crossings or trapping animals in muddy pits and reeds.
Archaeological sites across India and Southeast Asia show that humans hunted Bubalus arnee as early as 12,000 years ago. Over time, some groups began managing or corralling buffalo, marking the transition from wild hunting to early domestication. By around 6,000 years ago, water buffalo had become integral to early farming communities, symbolizing strength and fertility in many early Asian cultures.
Earliest Archaeological Evidence of Human Predation:
Sohgaura Site, Uttar Pradesh, India (c. 10,000 BP) — Butchered buffalo bones with stone-tool cut marks.
Ban Chiang, Thailand (c. 7,000 BP) — Buffalo remains in early wet-rice agricultural layers, showing transition from hunting to domestication.
Mehrgarh, Pakistan (c. 6,300 BP) — Evidence of managed herds and selective breeding, representing one of the earliest domestication centers of Bubalus bubalis.
Time & Range
Extinction Status
Domesticated 6,000 years ago
Extinction Date
Temporal Range
Region
5000
BP
Holocene
Asia
Wiki Link
Fat Analysis
Fatness Profile:
Medium
Fat %
5
Est. Renderable Fat
45
kg
Targeted Organs
Visceral & subcutaneous
Adipose Depots
Visceral/subcutaneous (general)
Preferred Cuts
Visceral depot
Hunt Difficulty (x/5)
4