- African Buffalo-

Standing 5 to 6 feet tall at the shoulder, the African Buffalo is one of the most successful grazers in Africa. Males carry enormous backward-curving, crescent-shaped horns stretching close to 5 feet long with deep ridges on their surface. Females are smaller in size and weight, but they also have horns, although they are proportionately smaller.

Females normally produce calves every other year, after a gestation of 9 to 11 months. Young bulls typically remain with maternal herds, which consist of around 30 buffalo, for three years after birth. They then go on to form small all-male herds.

Other than humans, African buffalo have few predators and are capable of defending themselves against, and sometimes killing lions. Lions do kill and eat buffalo regularly, but it typically takes multiple lions to bring down a single adult; only large male lions have been known to take down adult buffalo on their own.

 

Known as one of the "big five" or "Black Death" in Africa, the African Buffalo is widely regarded as a very dangerous animal, as it gores and kills several people every year. They are sometimes reported to kill more people in Africa than any other animal, although the same claim is sometimes made of Hippopotamuses, Crocodiles or Bees. Buffalo are notorious among big game hunters as very dangerous animals, with wounded animals reported to ambush and attack pursuers.

Average lifespan in captivity: Up to 25 years
Size: Head and body, 8 to 9 feet; Tail 2 to 3.3 feet
Weight: 1,500 to 2,650 lbs
Group name: Herd
Size relative to a 6-ft man: