Are all buffaloes the same?

[VINOYASADO]

Hello everyone and Merry Christmas!


Still dreaming of a buffalo safari, so I was wondering if buffaloes are all the same throughout Africa?
body size, trophy size, behavior, aggressiveness, etc.

Greetings from Spain to everyone

 

[Rare Breed]

A great book to get is Craig Boddingtons “Buffalo.” It does a great job of walking through the types; Cape versus Savannah along with the different Africa areas with calibers and shot placement. It would be well worth it for you to buy and easy to order online

 

[SStomcat]

There are Nile Buffaloes which are smaller in size with smaller horns that do not curve below the skull.

 

[VINOYASADO]

A great book to get is Craig Boddingtons “Buffalo.” It does a great job of walking through the types; Cape versus Savannah along with the different Africa areas with calibers and shot placement. It would be well worth it for you to buy and easy to order online

Thank you! I will have a look

 

[VINOYASADO]

There are Nile Buffaloes which are smaller in size with smaller horns that do not curve below the skull.

Maybe like the ones in south america (Brazil and Argentina mostly)

 

[grand veneur]

Scientifically it may look different, but as a hunter in Africa you can distinguish between three groups of buffaloes; Sudan buffalo, Forest buffalo and Cape buffalo. The biggest representative of the group is the Cape buffalo, which also has the largest trophy, followed by the Sudan/Nile buffalo, which is slightly smaller and also has a different smaller horn shape, and finally the smallest of the group, in terms of body size as well as horns, the forest buffalo. I cannot write anything about the forest buffalo as I have never hunted one, let alone seen one. I have shot a few specimens of the other species in various countries of Africa. They all behave the same and are all hunted in the same way. It could be that the West African buffalo is a bit more active and you need more effort to track it, but maybe that's just a subjective feeling, because I shot more Sudan Buffaloes in West-Africa than Cape Buffalo in East and South-East Africa.

 

[Hunt anything]

Maybe like the ones in south america (Brazil and Argentina mostly)

Just think 4/5 the size of Cape buffalo with flat horns that rarely curl below the eye. cape and Nile look almost identical except for the dip in the horns, both have a boss, unlike the water buffalo of Asia and transplanted to South America.

 

[375Fox]

They are not. There are several species and subspecies you can look up, but Cape buffalo in Southern Africa are most accessible. There are genetic differences between countries and areas that make different horns and body sizes in cape buffalo. However, I think environmental aspects make the biggest differences in a buffalo. Hunting pressure, poaching pressure, lions, game farming practices, size of areas, food sources, etc make the biggest difference in a Cape buffalo to me. Tracking a small group of dugga boys in Zimbabwe where lions and poachers have harassed them is very different than taking a buffalo from a large herd in the Zambezi delta in Mozambique is very different than hunting a buffalo on a game farm in South Africa where there are no predators. There are a lot of other hunting options in between as well. Technically all the same Cape buffalo but very different behavior and hunting methods.

 

[grand veneur]

As far as the so-called Nile buffalo is concerned, in my opinion there is a lot of confusion among the authors and hunters. I hunted buffaloes in the North-East/Karamoja as well as in the Southwest of Uganda near of the Lake Edward. The buffalo that I have seen there, be it the so-called Nile buffalo and the other group called Virunga buffalo, were more similar to the Cape buffalo than to the ones from West-Africa that I know well. The horn is perhaps a little different, not as curved as that of the Cape Buffalo.

 

[375Fox]

Cape buffalo from Zimbabwe

Savanna buffalo from Cameroon

 

[grand veneur]

Some trophies are confusing. In this case I could say it is a forest buffalo.

..but it is not !

 

[grand veneur]

Two trophy of so called Virunga buffaloes.

 

[Surgeon1]

Well there are several types:
1. Those with irritable tempers
2. Those who will hurt you
3. Those who are pissed off all the time
4. Those who look at you with those steel black eyes who want to more than just hurt you but want to give you a stare that makes you go “oh S__T”
5. Those if ur lucky who just leave cause they can

But they all have one thing in common they can and will kill you if ur not prepared no matter what
Subspecies we have! It’s what makes Buffalo hunting so much fun!

 

[grand veneur]

If you leave them alone they are rather peaceful, no matter what species. The Black Death is not a clever name.They are defensive animals that will defend their lives in a case of danger and which is understandable. I enjoy hunting buffaloes, but I respect them as living creatures and do not consider them as play objects.

 

[VINOYASADO]

If you leave them alone they are rather peaceful, no matter what species. The Black Death is not a clever name.They are defensive animals that will defend their lives in a case of danger and which is understandable. I enjoy hunting buffaloes, but I respect them as living creatures and do not consider them as play objects.

Do they only charge when they are injured/ shot? I read in some post like is a difference in behavior between buff from open areas and buff from bush

 

[Inline6]

Buffalo are very interesting, some fold up with 1 shot other take 12 and look at you as if you are crazy.

If given a choice I would give up hunting plains game to hunt Buffalo. It’s just a different experience.

 

[grand veneur]

Do they only charge when they are injured/ shot? I read in some post like is a difference in behavior between buff from open areas and buff from bush

I was never attacked by a buffalo without reason, but as I wrote, I have no experience with forest buffaloes. There seem to be attacks, but members who have hunted in forest area of Cameroon or Congo could answer this better. It is true that animals living in environments where visibility is poor are often more aggressive than those living in open areas.

 

[Hunt anything]

I have a book called. “African species and subspecies” written by Powell-Cotton (I think) it has a run down on all African game and their subspecies. I look it up when I get home tonight. It is very comprehensive and thorough.

 

[Sideshow]

Of the Virunga buffalo I had a group of tourists that bumped some when coming back off the Nat park after trekking the mountain gorillas. They were only in small herds there (not sure now but was that way back in the late 1990’s early 2000). Gave them a fair fright. The guides went back later to pick up a few items dropped by the group including a very expensive camera. Was actually surprised that they got that back. They guys had quite the story.
Even the park rangers were not all that keen to go back. Fun bit of countryside though steep bamboo thick as you like and Ohoo just to get your lungs working it’s at altitude so not the place to be chased.

 

[Northern Shooter]

Isn't there something like 4 or 5 buffalo species across Africa including a dwarf buffalo?