Syncerus caffer

Length: 170-340 cm (67-133")

Height: 100-170 cm (39-67")

Tail: 50-80 cm (20-31")

Weight: 250-850 kg (550-1870 lb.)

Status: locally common but now absent from large portions of their former range

Habitat: Buffalo need areas where there is sufficient water, shade, browse and grass. They are most abundant in well-watered savannas, swamps, grasslands and forests. Buffalo have low tolerance for heat and seek refuge from the hottest part of the days by moving into shade of forests, wooded gullies or by lying in muddy wallows and swamps.

Role: herbivore

Food: Buffalo are browsers and grazers. They eat the foliage of low level trees and bushes. They also feed on grasses including tall mature grasses that are too coarse for other ruminants.

Predators: lions and spotted hyenas; rarely, crocodiles when crossing rivers