Curious why cape buffalo have the same minimum caliber requirement as Rhino, Hippo and Elephant?

[B0MBOY]

I've always wondered why the .375 cal minimum requirement applied to Cape Buffalo in the same way it does to the larger dangerous game ie Hippo, Rhino and Elephant.

Now, I have never hunted Africa and have no direct experience with these game species. I know that Cape Buffalo are known for their toughness, their "meanness" and I've seen videos where they soak up a LOT of lead.

But from an anatomical perspective they are a ~1,600lb Buffalo vs a 3,000lb+ Hippo, 5,000lbs+ Rhino or a 15,000lb+ bull elephant.

They just don't seem to be in the same weight class compared to other megafauna.

Thinking of local examples at home, North Americans hunt the North American Bison which grows larger than Cape Buffalo (to to 2,700lbs) with 30cals like 308, 30-06, 300 WinMag etc.

It sounds like the Australians hunt their Water Buffalo (2,000lbs) with 338's as well but recommend a 375.

So a few questions:
1. Do you believe the caliber restrictions for Cape Buffalo should be the same as the larger African game? i.e. 375.
2. Do you think there should be an exception for using 338's, 35's etc. on Cape buffalo given their effectiveness on other buffalo species around the world?
3. Do you think the 375 minimum is actually too low for hippo, rhino or elephant?

I'm asking these questions as I sit here planning my Bison hunt where I intend to bring my 338WinMag with 250gr partitions.

I haven’t hunted in Africa either, but Ive done a hell of a lot of research, and if you watch a large volume of youtube videos of animals killed with x caliber you get an idea pretty quickly for how animals shot by x caliber react.

1) .375 is the minimum diameter. For the bigger animals, especially elephant, you generally want more than minimum. Craig bodkin does a great video explaining shot placement on elephants and explaining exactly how much bone you’re shooting through to kill one. It’s a lot.

2) I think for lions and leopards you could make a case for smaller calibers…. Up until they charge you. There was a man eating tiger hunting specialist on here and his opinion was 12 guage buckshot was the way to go for big cats.

All that said I don’t think 338 win mag or 35 whelen are in the same class as 375 h&h. The only 338 that i believe should get an exception is .338 lapua because it’s very very close performance to 375 h&h.

3) too low for elephant. I’ve seen a plenty of videos of hippo kills with 375 h&h.