The wild water buffalo (''Bubalus arnee''), also called Asian buffalo, Asiatic buffalo and wild buffalo, is a large
bovine
Bovines (subfamily Bovinae) comprise a diverse group of 10 genera of medium to large-sized ungulates, including Bos, cattle, bison, African buffalo, Bubalus, water buffalos, and the four-horned and spiral-horned antelopes. The members of this gro ...
native to the
Indian subcontinent
The Indian subcontinent is a physiographic region of Asia below the Himalayas which projects into the Indian Ocean between the Bay of Bengal to the east and the Arabian Sea to the west. It is now divided between Bangladesh, India, and Pakista ...
and Southeast Asia. It has been listed as ''
Endangered
An endangered species is a species that is very likely to become extinct in the near future, either worldwide or in a particular political jurisdiction. Endangered species may be at risk due to factors such as habitat loss, poaching, inv ...
'' in the
IUCN Red List
The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species, also known as the IUCN Red List or Red Data Book, founded in 1964, is an inventory of the global conservation status and extinction risk of biological ...
since 1986, as the remaining population totals less than 4,000. A population decline of at least 50% over the last three generations (24–30 years) is projected to continue. The global population has been estimated at 3,400 individuals, of which 95% live in India, mostly in
Assam
Assam (, , ) is a state in Northeast India, northeastern India, south of the eastern Himalayas along the Brahmaputra Valley, Brahmaputra and Barak River valleys. Assam covers an area of . It is the second largest state in Northeast India, nor ...
. The wild water buffalo is the most likely ancestor of the domestic
water buffalo
The water buffalo (''Bubalus bubalis''), also called domestic water buffalo, Asian water buffalo and Asiatic water buffalo, is a large bovid originating in the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia. Today, it is also kept in Italy, the Balkans ...
.
Taxonomy

''Bos arnee'' was the
scientific name
In Taxonomy (biology), taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, both of which use Latin gramm ...
proposed by
Robert Kerr in 1792 who described a skull with horns of a buffalo
zoological specimen
A zoological specimen is an animal or part of an animal preserved for scientific use.
Various uses are: to verify the identity of a (species), to allow study, increase public knowledge of zoology.
Zoological specimens are extremely diverse. Exampl ...
from
Bengal
Bengal ( ) is a Historical geography, historical geographical, ethnolinguistic and cultural term referring to a region in the Eastern South Asia, eastern part of the Indian subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal. The region of Benga ...
in northern India.
The specific name ''arnee'' is derived from
Hindi
Modern Standard Hindi (, ), commonly referred to as Hindi, is the Standard language, standardised variety of the Hindustani language written in the Devanagari script. It is an official language of India, official language of the Government ...
''arnī'', which referred to a female wild water buffalo; the term is related to
Sanskrit
Sanskrit (; stem form ; nominal singular , ,) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in northwest South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cultural ...
''áraṇya'' ("forest") and ''áraṇa'' ("strange, foreign.") ''Bubalus arnee'' was proposed by
Charles Hamilton Smith
Lieutenant-Colonel Charles Hamilton Smith, Royal Guelphic Order, KH, Military Order of William, KW, Royal Society, FRS, Linnean Society of London, FLS (26 December 1776 – 21 September 1859) was a British Army officer, artist, naturalist, ant ...
in 1827 who introduced the generic name ''Bubalus'' for bovids with large heads, convex-shaped narrow foreheads, laterally bent flat horns, funnel-shaped ears, small
dewlap
A dewlap is a longitudinal flap of skin or similar flesh that hangs beneath the lower jaw or neck of many vertebrates. More loosely, it can be various similar structures in the neck area, such as those caused by a double chin or the submandibula ...
s and slender tails.
Later authors subordinated the wild water buffalo under either ''
Bos
''Bos'' (from Latin '' bōs'': cow, ox, bull) is a genus of bovines, which includes, among others, wild and domestic cattle.
''Bos'' is often divided into four subgenera: ''Bos'', ''Bibos'', ''Novibos'', and ''Poephagus'', but including t ...
'', ''Bubalus'' or ''Buffelus''.
In 2003, the
International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature
The International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature (ICZN) is an organization dedicated to "achieving stability and sense in the scientific naming of animals". Founded in 1895, it currently comprises 26 commissioners from 20 countries.
Orga ...
placed ''Bubalus arnee'' on the ''Official List of
Specific Names in Zoology'', recognizing the validity of this name for a wild species. Most authors have adopted the
binomen
In taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, both of which use Latin grammatical forms, altho ...
''Bubalus arnee'' for the wild water buffalo as valid for the
taxon
In biology, a taxon (back-formation from ''taxonomy''; : taxa) is a group of one or more populations of an organism or organisms seen by taxonomists to form a unit. Although neither is required, a taxon is usually known by a particular name and ...
.
The wild water buffalo is the most likely ancestor of the domestic
water buffalo
The water buffalo (''Bubalus bubalis''), also called domestic water buffalo, Asian water buffalo and Asiatic water buffalo, is a large bovid originating in the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia. Today, it is also kept in Italy, the Balkans ...
.
Only a few
DNA sequence
A nucleic acid sequence is a succession of bases within the nucleotides forming alleles within a DNA (using GACT) or RNA (GACU) molecule. This succession is denoted by a series of a set of five different letters that indicate the order of the nu ...
s are available from wild water buffalo populations. Wild populations are considered to be the
progenitor
In genealogy, a progenitor (rarer: primogenitor; or ''Ahnherr'') is the founder (sometimes one that is legendary) of a family, line of descent, gens, clan, tribe, noble house, or ethnic group.. Ebenda''Ahnherr:''"Stammvater eines Geschlec ...
of the modern domestic water buffalo, but the
genetic variation
Genetic variation is the difference in DNA among individuals or the differences between populations among the same species. The multiple sources of genetic variation include mutation and genetic recombination. Mutations are the ultimate sources ...
within the species is unclear, and also how it is related to the domesticated river and
Carabao
Carabaos () are a genetically distinct population of swamp-type water buffaloes ('' Bubalus bubalis kerabau'') from the Philippines.FAO 2013''Philippine Carabao/Philippines''In: Domestic Animal Diversity Information System. Food and Agriculture ...
swamp buffaloes.
Characteristics
The wild water buffalo has an ash-gray to black skin. The moderately long, coarse and sparse hair is directed forward from the haunches to the long and narrow head. There is a tuft on the forehead, and the ears are comparatively small. Its head-to-body-length is with a long tail and a shoulder height of . Both sexes carry horns that are heavy at the base and widely spreading up to along the outer edges, exceeding in size the horns of any other living
bovid
The Bovidae comprise the family (biology), biological family of cloven-hoofed, ruminant mammals that includes Bos, cattle, bison, Bubalina, buffalo, antelopes (including Caprinae, goat-antelopes), Ovis, sheep and Capra (genus), goats. A member o ...
. The tip of the tail is bushy; the hooves are large and splayed.
It is larger and heavier than the domestic water buffalo, and weighs from .
The average weight of three captive wild water buffaloes was .
It is among the heaviest living wild bovid species, and is slightly smaller than
gaur
The gaur (''Bos gaurus''; ) is a large bovine native to the Indian Subcontinent and Southeast Asia, and has been listed as Vulnerable species, Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List since 1986. The global population was estimated at a maximum of 21,000 ...
.
Distribution and habitat
The wild water buffalo occurs in India,
Nepal
Nepal, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is mainly situated in the Himalayas, but also includes parts of the Indo-Gangetic Plain. It borders the Tibet Autonomous Region of China Ch ...
,
Bhutan
Bhutan, officially the Kingdom of Bhutan, is a landlocked country in South Asia, in the Eastern Himalayas between China to the north and northwest and India to the south and southeast. With a population of over 727,145 and a territory of , ...
,
Thailand
Thailand, officially the Kingdom of Thailand and historically known as Siam (the official name until 1939), is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. With a population of almost 66 million, it spa ...
, and
Cambodia
Cambodia, officially the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. It is bordered by Thailand to the northwest, Laos to the north, and Vietnam to the east, and has a coastline ...
, with an unconfirmed population in
Myanmar
Myanmar, officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar; and also referred to as Burma (the official English name until 1989), is a country in northwest Southeast Asia. It is the largest country by area in Mainland Southeast Asia and has ...
. It has been
extirpated
Local extinction, also extirpation, is the termination of a species (or other taxon) in a chosen geographic area of study, though it still exists elsewhere. Local extinctions are contrasted with global extinctions.
Local extinctions mark a chan ...
in Bangladesh,
Laos
Laos, officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic (LPDR), is the only landlocked country in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by Myanmar and China to the northwest, Vietnam to the east, Cambodia to the southeast, and Thailand to the west and ...
,
Vietnam
Vietnam, officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV), is a country at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of about and a population of over 100 million, making it the world's List of countries and depende ...
, and
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...
.
[Choudhury, A. (2010). ''The vanishing herds: the wild water buffalo''. Gibbon Books, Rhino Foundation, CEPF & COA, Taiwan, Guwahati, India.] It is associated with wet grasslands, swamps, flood plains and densely vegetated river valleys.[
India hosts 95% of the total global wild buffalo population, with over 2,600 wild water buffaloes in ]Assam
Assam (, , ) is a state in Northeast India, northeastern India, south of the eastern Himalayas along the Brahmaputra Valley, Brahmaputra and Barak River valleys. Assam covers an area of . It is the second largest state in Northeast India, nor ...
. It is largely restricted to in and around Kaziranga
Kaziranga National Park is a national park in the Golaghat, Sonitpur, Biswanath and Nagaon districts of the state of Assam, India. KNP has 5 ranges. The park, which hosts two-thirds of the world's Indian rhinoceroses, is a UNESCO World Herita ...
, Manas and Dibru-Saikhowa National Park
Dibru-Saikhowa National Park is a national park in Dibrugarh and Tinsukia districts, Assam, India. It was designated a Biosphere Reserve in July 1997 with an area of , including a core area of and a buffer zone of .
It is located around nort ...
s, Laokhowa Wildlife Sanctuary
Laokhowa Wildlife Sanctuary is a wildlife sanctuary located in the state of Assam in India covering on the south bank of the Brahmaputra River in Nagaon district.
It is a part of the Laokhowa-Burachapori eco-system. The sanctuary is an ideal h ...
and Bura Chapori Wildlife Sanctuary and in a few scattered pockets in Assam, and in and around D'Ering Memorial Wildlife Sanctuary in Arunachal Pradesh. A small population survives in Balphakram National Park in Meghalaya, and in Chhattisgarh
Chhattisgarh (; ) is a landlocked States and union territories of India, state in Central India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, ninth largest state by area, and with a population of roughly 30 million, the List ...
in Indravati National Park
Indravati National Park is a national park located in Bijapur district of Chhattisgarh state in India. The park derives its name from the Indravati River, which flows from east to west and forms the northern boundary of the reserve with the In ...
and Udanti Wildlife Sanctuary.[ This population might extend into adjacent parts of ]Odisha
Odisha (), formerly Orissa (List of renamed places in India, the official name until 2011), is a States and union territories of India, state located in East India, Eastern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by ar ...
and Gadchiroli District of Maharashtra
Maharashtra () is a state in the western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. It is bordered by the Arabian Sea to the west, the Indian states of Karnataka and Goa to the south, Telangana to th ...
. In the early 1990s, there may still have been about 3,300–3,500 wild water buffaloes in Assam and the adjacent states of northeast India. In 1997, the number was assessed at less than 1,500 mature individuals.[
]
Many surviving populations are thought to have interbred with feral
A feral (; ) animal or plant is one that lives in the wild but is descended from domesticated individuals. As with an introduced species, the introduction of feral animals or plants to non-native regions may disrupt ecosystems and has, in som ...
or domestic water buffaloes. In the late 1980s, fewer than 100 wild water buffaloes were left in Madhya Pradesh
Madhya Pradesh (; ; ) is a state in central India. Its capital is Bhopal and the largest city is Indore, Indore. Other major cities includes Gwalior, Jabalpur, and Sagar, Madhya Pradesh, Sagar. Madhya Pradesh is the List of states and union te ...
. By 1992, only 50 animals were estimated to have survived there.[
Nepal's only population lives in ]Koshi Tappu Wildlife Reserve
The Koshi Tappu Wildlife Reserve is a protected area in the Terai of eastern Nepal covering of wetlands in the Sunsari District, Sunsari, Saptari District, Saptari and Udayapur Districts. It comprises extensive reed beds and freshwater marshes i ...
and has grown from 63 individuals in 1976 to 219 individuals in 2009. In 2016, 18 individuals were translocated from Koshi Tappu Wildlife Reserve to Chitwan National Park
Chitwan National Park is the first national park of Nepal. It was established in 1973 as the Royal Chitwan National Park and was granted the status of a World Heritage Site in 1984. It covers an area of in the Terai of south-central Nepal. It ra ...
.
In and around Bhutan's Royal Manas National Park
Royal Manas National Park is Bhutan's oldest national park, and the Royal government considers it the "conservation showpiece of the Kingdom" and a "genetic depository" for valuable plants. It has an area of and covers eastern Sarpang District, ...
, a small number of wild water buffaloes occur. This is part of the sub-population that occurs in India's Manas National Park.[ In Myanmar, a few animals live in Hukaung Valley Wildlife Sanctuary.][
In Thailand, wild water buffaloes have been reported to occur in small herds of less than 40 individuals. A population of 25–60 individuals inhabited lowland areas of the ]Huai Kha Khaeng Wildlife Sanctuary
The Huai Kha Khaeng Wildlife Sanctuary (, ) is in Uthai Thani and Tak Provinces, Thailand. The park was established in 1974, and is part of the largest intact seasonal tropical forest complex in Mainland Southeast Asia. It, coupled with the Th ...
between December 1999 and April 2001. This population has not grown significantly in 15 years, and is maybe interbreeding with domestic water buffaloes.
The population in Cambodia is confined to a small area of easternmost Mondulkiri and possibly Ratanakiri Provinces. Only a few dozen individuals remain.
The wild water buffaloes in Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...
are thought to be descendants of the introduced domestic water buffalo
The water buffalo (''Bubalus bubalis''), also called domestic water buffalo, Asian water buffalo and Asiatic water buffalo, is a large bovid originating in the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia. Today, it is also kept in Italy, the Balkans ...
. It is unlikely that any true wild water buffaloes remain there today.[
Wild-living populations found elsewhere in Asia, Australia, ]Argentina
Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...
and Bolivia
Bolivia, officially the Plurinational State of Bolivia, is a landlocked country located in central South America. The country features diverse geography, including vast Amazonian plains, tropical lowlands, mountains, the Gran Chaco Province, w ...
are feral
A feral (; ) animal or plant is one that lives in the wild but is descended from domesticated individuals. As with an introduced species, the introduction of feral animals or plants to non-native regions may disrupt ecosystems and has, in som ...
domestic water buffaloes.[
]
Ecology and behavior
The wild water buffalo is both diurnal and nocturnal
Nocturnality is a ethology, behavior in some non-human animals characterized by being active during the night and sleeping during the day. The common adjective is "nocturnal", versus diurnality, diurnal meaning the opposite.
Nocturnal creatur ...
. Adult females and their young form stable clans of as many as 30 individuals, which have home range
A home range is the area in which an animal lives and moves on a periodic basis. It is related to the concept of an animal's territory which is the area that is actively defended. The concept of a home range was introduced by W. H. Burt in 1943. ...
s of that include areas for resting, grazing, wallowing and drinking. Clans are led by old cows, even when bulls accompany the group. Several clans form a herd of 30 to 500 animals that gather at resting areas. Adult males form bachelor groups of up to 10 individuals, with older males often being solitary, and spend the dry season apart from the female clans. They are seasonal breeders in most of their range, typically in October and November. However, some populations breed year round. Dominant males mate with the females of a clan who subsequently drive them off. Their gestation period
In mammals, pregnancy is the period of reproduction during which a female carries one or more live offspring from implantation in the uterus through gestation. It begins when a fertilized zygote implants in the female's uterus, and ends once i ...
is 10 to 11 months, with an inter-birth interval of one year. They typically give birth to a single offspring, although twins are possible. Age at sexual maturity is 18 months for males, and three years for females. The maximum known lifespan is 25 years in the wild.[ In Assam, herd sizes vary from three to 30 individuals.][
The wild water buffalo is probably a grazer by preference, feeding mainly on ]graminoid
In botany and ecology, a graminoid refers to a herbaceous plant with a grass-like morphology, i.e., elongated culms with long, blade-like leaves. They are contrasted with forbs, herbaceous plants without grass-like features.
The plants most ...
s when available, such as Bermuda grass
''Cynodon dactylon'', commonly known as Bermuda grass, also known as couch grass in Australia and New Zealand, is a grass found worldwide. It is native to Europe, Africa, Australia and much of Asia. It has been introduced to the Americas. Contra ...
, and ''Cyperus
''Cyperus'' is a large genus of about 700 species of sedges, distributed throughout all continents in both tropical and temperate regions.
Description
They are annual or perennial plants, mostly aquatic and growing in still or slow-moving ...
'' sedges, but it also eats other herb
Herbs are a widely distributed and widespread group of plants, excluding vegetables, with savory or aromatic properties that are used for flavoring and garnishing food, for medicinal purposes, or for fragrances. Culinary use typically distingu ...
s, fruits, and bark, and browses on trees and shrubs. It also feeds on crops, including rice, sugarcane
Sugarcane or sugar cane is a species of tall, Perennial plant, perennial grass (in the genus ''Saccharum'', tribe Andropogoneae) that is used for sugar Sugar industry, production. The plants are 2–6 m (6–20 ft) tall with stout, jointed, fib ...
, and jute
Jute ( ) is a long, rough, shiny bast fibre that can be Spinning (textiles), spun into coarse, strong threads. It is produced from flowering plants in the genus ''Corchorus'', of the mallow family Malvaceae. The primary source of the fiber is ...
, sometimes causing considerable damage. During the Pleistocene
The Pleistocene ( ; referred to colloquially as the ''ice age, Ice Age'') is the geological epoch (geology), epoch that lasted from to 11,700 years ago, spanning the Earth's most recent period of repeated glaciations. Before a change was fin ...
, its diet was far more varied; it foraged in C3-dominant forests and woodlands and in C4-dominant grasslands, while today it is restricted to the latter type of environment.
Tiger
The tiger (''Panthera tigris'') is a large Felidae, cat and a member of the genus ''Panthera'' native to Asia. It has a powerful, muscular body with a large head and paws, a long tail and orange fur with black, mostly vertical stripes. It is ...
s and mugger crocodile
The mugger crocodile (''Crocodylus palustris'') is a medium-sized broad-snouted crocodile, also known as mugger and marsh crocodile. It is native to freshwater habitats from south-eastern Iran to the Indian subcontinent, where it inhabits marsh ...
s prey on adult wild water buffaloes, and Asian black bear
The Asian black bear (''Ursus thibetanus''), also known as the Asiatic black bear, moon bear and white-chested bear, is a medium-sized bear species native to Asia that is largely adapted to an arboreal lifestyle. It is distributed from southeast ...
s have also been known to kill them.
Threats
A population reduction by at least 50% over the last three generations seems likely given the severity of the threats, especially hybridization; this population trend is projected to continue into the future. The most important threats are:[
* ]interbreeding
In biology, a hybrid is the offspring resulting from combining the qualities of two organisms of different varieties, subspecies, species or genera through sexual reproduction. Generally, it means that each cell has genetic material from two di ...
with feral and domestic water buffaloes in and around protected areas;
* hunting, especially in Thailand, Cambodia, and Myanmar;
* habitat loss of floodplain
A floodplain or flood plain or bottomlands is an area of land adjacent to a river. Floodplains stretch from the banks of a river channel to the base of the enclosing valley, and experience flooding during periods of high Discharge (hydrolog ...
areas due to conversion to agriculture and hydropower
Hydropower (from Ancient Greek -, "water"), also known as water power or water energy, is the use of falling or fast-running water to Electricity generation, produce electricity or to power machines. This is achieved by energy transformation, ...
development;
* degradation of wetlands
A wetland is a distinct semi-aquatic ecosystem whose groundcovers are flooded or saturated in water, either permanently, for years or decades, or only seasonally. Flooding results in oxygen-poor ( anoxic) processes taking place, especially ...
due to invasive species
An invasive species is an introduced species that harms its new environment. Invasive species adversely affect habitats and bioregions, causing ecological, environmental, and/or economic damage. The term can also be used for native spec ...
such as stem twiners and lianas;
* diseases and parasites
Parasitism is a close relationship between species, where one organism, the parasite, lives (at least some of the time) on or inside another organism, the host, causing it some harm, and is adapted structurally to this way of life. The en ...
transmitted by domestic livestock;
* interspecific competition
Interspecific competition, in ecology, is a form of competition in which individuals of ''different'' species compete for the same resources in an ecosystem (e.g. food or living space). This can be contrasted with mutualism, a type of symbiosis. ...
for food and water between wild water buffaloes and livestock.
Conservation
''Bubalus arnee'' is included in CITES Appendix III
CITES (shorter acronym for the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, also known as the Washington Convention) is a multilateral treaty to protect endangered plants and animals from the threats of inte ...
, and is legally protected in Bhutan, India, Nepal, and Thailand.[
In 2017, 15 wild water buffaloes were reintroduced into ]Chitwan National Park
Chitwan National Park is the first national park of Nepal. It was established in 1973 as the Royal Chitwan National Park and was granted the status of a World Heritage Site in 1984. It covers an area of in the Terai of south-central Nepal. It ra ...
in Nepal to establish a second viable sub-population in the country.
In 2023, 4 wild buffalos were translocated to Udanti-Sitanadi Tiger Reserve to reverse its declining population in the state.
References
External links
IUCN Asian Wild Cattle Specialist Group: ''Water buffalo'' (Bubalus arnee)
Wild Cattle Conservation Project
Wildlife Trust of India February 2006: ''Wild buffalo faces extinction''
Notes
{{NoteFoot
Water buffalo
Mammals of Bangladesh
Mammals of Bhutan
Mammals of Myanmar
Mammals of Cambodia
Mammals of India
Mammals of Nepal
Mammals of Thailand
Mammals described in 1792
Symbols of Chhattisgarh
br:Bubalus