Are all buffaloes the same?

[mattdeere1]

In my experience, Cape Buffalo can be very aggressive when injured and backed into a corner so to speak. Most run when injured or not. I think alot of it depends on their life experience. If they have had success in their life running away from danger, Lions or Hyenas, they might believe that is the best action to take. However, if they have gored a lion to death or been able to chase off hyenas they might believe that standing to fight is a best action.

 

[R eight]

They only come in 2 genders.

 

[Hunt anything]

This from the book “African Game, Species and Subspecies” by Stephan J Carton-Barber.

African savanna buffalo, subspecies 1)Cape buffalo
2) Nile or northeast buffalo
3)central African buffalo
4) west African buffalo
5) semliki buffalo
6) mountain or kivu buffalo or Virunga buffalo
7) ankole buffalo
He does mention that 5-7 don’t often get subspecies recognition.

Dwarf buffalo subspecies
1) red, dwarf or Congo buffalo
2)forest dwarf buffalo
3) savannah dwarf buffalo

Lots of hair splitting, I would think where populations merge together there is quite a bit of inbreeding so the lines are pretty blurry!
It has some details maps as well.

 

[PHOENIX PHIL]

Nile buffalo are indeed smaller than the Cape version. But I'm not so sure about the curl not drooping below eye level. Here are the two taken by myself and @AZ KJ. You can see in first pic the horn is dropping below the hand of the man holding open the blind eye on my bull. If you place your cursor just right you can see the horn on Kevin's bull is below the eye at the bottom of the arc.

These were taken in Uganda btw.

 

[375Fox]

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

Places like massailand where herders and buffalo compete for same limited water there are many reports of unprovoked charges. I’d also argue buffalo on South African ranches that receive supplemental feeding and have lost some of their fear of man can be the most dangerous. There are a lot of factors that can influence a buffalo’s behavior. I saw in a recent post one member identified a difference between buffalo in open ground and in the brush. His assessment may have been correct for that particular area but it will not be the same in all areas.

 

[mark-hunter]

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.

There are at least four subspecies.
Cape Buffalo
Nile Buffalo
Dwarf forest buffalo
Western savanna buffalo.

I would argue, collecting all of them would be more difficult effort, then collecting standard "big 5".
The last three subspecies of buffalo would lead you to much less beaten path, to African countries not often visited by hunters, much smaller number of available outfitters, possible trophy export difficulties, and higher pricing. Also, not necessarily all the hunts would be with 100% chance of success. I imagine dwarf forest buffalo would be most difficult to find, and could ask to repeat the hunt.

If you never hunted in Africa, or buffalo: focus for cape buffalo.
South Africa
Namibia
Tanzania
Mozambique
Zimbabwe

South Africa is most economic, and you can expect most likely to hunt managed buffalo in fenced area.
Other countries, are hunts in wild safari area, with no fences, and higher costs. Habitats vary from bush, tall grass savanna, mopane forests or swamps, etc...

 

[AfricaHunting.com]

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

Thread 'Different kinds of Central African Savanna Buffalo'

Jul 8, 2009

In the tracks of the Central African Savanna Buffalo

I don't think I've ever heard a hunter say he doesn't like buffalo hunting. And for sure; There's something special about it!

It's often the first real big game that first time Africa hunters go after. Many of those hunters get really hooked on it; the adrenalin and intensity in buffalo hunting is often the reason.

As many of you know there are several subspecies of buffalo in Africa, among which the Cape buffalo is probably the most well known. I'm not going to sort all the classifications out, but concentrate on...

• anton lundkvist
• Replies: 9
• Forum: Hunting Africa

 

[grand veneur]

They only come in 2 genders.

That was the case until about 15 years ago, but since new genetic data has become available, there seem to be at least 3 if not 4 species of buffaloes. A distinction is currently being made between Cape buffalo, Sudan buffalo and Forest buffalo. The Virunga buffalo or mountain buffalo is still up for debate. There is a dispute about it at the highest scientific level and that's why we don't need to argue here on the forum.

For hunting, you can visually distinguish between 3 species; Cape buffalo, West/Central Africa buffalo and forest buffalo. Trophy variations within the same species are due to the genetic pool of local populations.

 

[DieJager]

@grand veneur He is messing around. He means male and female. Not subspecies

 

[grand veneur]

@grand veneur He is messing around. He means male and female. Not subspecies

Oups ! I misunderstood @R eight, ...sorry.

I was fixed on what was to read in older zoological books until recently.

 

[grand veneur]

A nice West African buffalo.

 

[Major Bonkers]

The best book on buffaloes is Kevin Robertson's 'Africa's Most Dangerous'. Boddington's book - I think that he has written a second volume on the subject - is very poor.

Other books include Berger's 'Horned Death', which I have read but rather oddly cannot remember, and Rigby's 'Dagga Boy' book, which I have not yet read.

 

[DWB]

Peter Flack also compiled a great book on the different sub species.

 

[DieJager]

Rigby's 'Dagga Boy' book, which I have not yet read.

Interesting that you mentioned this book. Was just now looking at the Rigby website and saw this in the store. Anyone who owns this book that can chime in, if it is any good?

 

[sgt_zim]

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

No, they don't need to be injured to mount a charge.

I can't find the thread (though I did copy/paste the text and save it), but one of our members (and I can't even remember who it was, but it was memorable so I saved it) posted this a while back

We had driven past one last herd of buffalo that were beautifully silhouetted against the setting sun. We didn't even stop for pictures, it was too dark. We were well out, and going away, 150 meters or so from the nearest. Bumping along the grassy floodplain in first gear. Perhaps we accidentally insulted them. Perhaps they had been recently harassed by lions. Who knows. Buffalo don't need a reason to express their displeasure. Nelson, the assistant PH looked back and uttered those four words in a mix of wonder and concern as three bulls transformed themselves from alert, stationary observers to galloping, determined defenders. Or attackers.

Johann stomped on the accelerator, but the 6 cylinder Toyota diesel is not so good at accelerating in sand. Buffalo have very good acceleration. It took far too many long seconds, and third gear, until they gave up the chase. The last sight we had was of three indistinct but massive black shapes, dust swirling around their hooked horns in the gloom, coming to a stop as we pulled away.

Probably the best known PH of the late 20th and early 21st centuries, Dr. Kevin Robertson, says they mostly behave like cattle who since the dawn of time have been preyed upon by lions and are quite sensitive to potential threats. When they perceive a threat, most times they just run away. But perhaps 1 or 2% of them didn't get the memo that they're prey animals and believe themselves to be predators.

As any number of other guys here have said, if you make the first shot count, the vast majority of the time there will be no drama. The buff will run off some number of yards, collapse, and give its death bellow. But when you head out to the bush, you just never know which sort you're going to encounter.

While the balance of probability favors no drama, we hunt them because of the potential for drama.

 

[mark-hunter]

While the balance of probability favors no drama, we hunt them because of the potential for drama.

Well said!

 

[Hunt anything]

I believe Bob Fontana a Canadian was killed in Tanzania by a buffalo while hunting lesser kudu. It was an unprovoked charge. The bull was never found so it’s unclear if it had been been wounded by poachers, ravaged by a lion or if he just got inside the bulls comfort zone.

 

[318AE]

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

Merry Christmas VINOYASADO -

I understood your question a little differently, and will answer it that way as well. The vast majority of all buffalo hunted in Africa are “cape buffalo”, with Nile and forest buffalo subspecies mostly being the realm of specialty collectors. It’s similar to how more greater kudu are hunted than many of the other spiral horns (lesser kudu, mountain nyala, sitatunga etc) combined.

Similar to how whitetail deer vary in different areas of North America, there is some regional variations of buffalo. While this is almost sure to start controversy, I’ll share the following of what I’ve heard from PHs or experienced as it relates to “cape buffalo” (which are just called “buffalo” in most of East Africa)
- Some of the buffalo from the Kruger park area are known for really large bosses, but not quite the width found elsewhere. There is an “addo” gene population that is known for great mass and bosses, but less width.
- Some really, really wide buffalo come from northern Tanzania in general and the area east of Lake Manyara specifically.
- I had a very experienced PH swear to me that the Masailand buffalo are larger and “denser” in the body - ie literally weigh more for the volume displaced (more muscle, less fat?)?
- The Masailand buffalo have a reputation for being particularly ornery.
- The older buffalo I’ve seen in the Zambezi delta in Mozambique tend not to have the horn tips worn down and broken off like I’ve seen elsewhere. I think there is simply less for them to “broom” against in the large marshes and swamps.
- In contrast, the buffalo from the Lukwati area in Tanzania almost always have smoothly polished horns.

I hope this helps and you have a wonderful Christmas in Andalusia.

I’m interested in what regional traits others have learned in this regard, while recognizing there are exceptions along the way.

 

[VINOYASADO]

Thank all for the great info and pictures!!!

Watching some youtube videos I found this one that also cover more or lerss the topic!

 

[Scott CWO]

I know of buffalo that charged from heavy cover that were not wounded on two occasions. Both occasions were at close range and the buffaloes were surprised.

One was a cow that nearly killed a PH in our camp who was guiding my good friend, Craig Johnson. The cow jumped up out of high grass and took the PH down. Craig shot the buffalo off of the PH. Wendy and I learned of this episode when we got back to camp that evening. This happened in Mozambique, not far from the Zimbabwe border. The PH was rushed to Harare and later to Johannesburg. He survived after a few surgeries.

The other charge was by a big bull in Tanzania that got angry after being wakened by the Cruiser driving by on a trail road with high grass on either side. The bull charged the Cruiser and put a big dent in the fender!

Whether it’s a grizzly bear or a buffalo, a person should be on alert passing through heavy cover.