INDIAN BUFFALO HORN

Wild water buffalo 

Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Mammalia Order: Artiodactyla Family: Bovidae Subfamily: Bovinae Genus: Bubalus Species: B. arnee Binomial name Bubalus arnee (Kerr, 1792) Subspecies B. a. arnee (much of India and Nepal) B. a. fulvus

Asiatic water buffalo range The wild water buffalo, Bubalus arnee, also called Asian buffalo, Asiatic buffalo and arni or arnee, is a large bovine native to the Indian Subcontinent and Southeast Asia. It has been listed as Endangered in the IUCN Red List 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 3,100 (91%) live in India, mostly in Assam. The wild water buffalo is the probable ancestor of the domestic water buffalo.


Dairy water buffaloes

The domestic water buffalo (Bubalus bubalis) contributes a significant share of global milk production and is the major milk producing animal in several countries. Buffaloes are kept mostly by small-scale producers in developing countries, who raise one or two animals in mixed crop­–livestock systems. Water buffaloes are classified into two subspecies: the river buffalo and the swamp buffalo. River buffaloes constitute approximately 70 percent of the world water buffalo population. River buffalo milk accounts for a substantial share of total milk production in India and Pakistan and is also important in the Near East. Swamp buffaloes are smaller and have lower milk yields than river buffaloes. They are present mainly in Eastern Asia and are primarily raised for draught power. 

River buffaloes usually produce between 1,500 and 4,500 litres of milk per lactation. They have a significantly longer productive life than cattle, providing calves and milk until they are up to 20 years of age. The many factors that constrain commercial buffalo milk production include animals’ late age at first calving, the seasonality of oestrus, and the long calving interval and dry period. 

In recent decades, breeding programmes – especially in Bulgaria, China, Egypt, India and Pakistan – have attempted to improve the milk yield of river buffalo. Well-known specialized dairy buffalo breeds include Murrah, Nili-Ravi, Kundi, Surti, Jaffarabadi, Bhadawari and Mehsana.