BUFFALO AT MALAMALA GAME RESERVE

Family Bovidae Mass 750 kg / 1653 lbs Height ± 160 cm / 63 inches Charging speed 55 km/h / 34 mph Potential longevity 20 - 25 years Gestation period 11 months Record span of horns 147 cm / 58 inches

Buffalo are large, cattle like animals. Once widely distributed in Southern Africa, the buffalo's numbers have been greatly reduced by large-scale hunting and sickness such as Rinderpest and foot and mouth disease. Now restricted to the eastern regions of South Africa, they are abundant in the MalaMala area and are frequently seen wallowing in muddy pools or grazing in the vicinity of dams in the reserve.

The buffalo is highly gregarious and usually occurs in large herds, with the largest herd in the MalaMala Game Reserve estimated to be in the region of 400 individuals. Bachelor groups and single animals are also often encountered. A dominance hierarchy occurs within buffalo herds. The dominant bull or bulls mate with all receptive cows who each produce a single calf after a gestation period of about 11 months. Although a favourite prey item of the lions, the large horns and powerful muscles of the buffalo makes it a formidable adversary and it is frequently the lions which come off second best in such encounters.