Savanna Buffalo

The Savanna buffalo is one of the most abundant of Africa's large herbivores. It depends on water and does not live in regions with less than 10 inches of rain a year.

African savanna buffalo can live in herds of a few hundred, but have been known to congregate in thousands in the Serengeti during the rainy season. The females and their offspring make up the bulk of the herd.

Males may spend much of their time in bachelor groups. The older bulls often prefer to be on their own.

Males do not reach their full weight until about age 10. After this, however, their body weight and condition decline, probably because the teeth become worn.

Sight and hearing are both poor, but scent is well developed. Although quiet for the most part, the animals do communicate. In mating seasons they grunt and emit hoarse bellows. A calf in danger will bellow mournfully, bringing herd members running at a gallop to defend it.

Grass forms the greatest part of the savanna buffalo's diet, although at certain times of the year browse plants other than grass is also consumed. Buffaloes spend more time feeding at night than during the day. They seem to have a relatively poor ability to regulate body temperature and remain in the shade for long periods of time in the heat of the day, or wallow in mud.

Currently, concentrations of buffalo can be seen in the western corridor of Serengeti along the Grumeti River, and in the woodland around Seronera. Sadly, the north of Serengeti National Park, once boasting the highest densities of buffalo on Earth is without buffalo today.

If attacked, the adults in the herd form a circle around the young and face outward. By lowering their heads and presenting a solid barrier of sharp horns, it is difficult for predators to seize a calf. This effective group defense even allows blind and crippled members of the herd to survive. Thus predators do not have a major impact on buffalo herds; it is the old, solitary-living males that are most likely to be taken by lions.