Africa's Big 5 - Cape Buffalo - Tag

Africa's Big 5 - Cape Buffalo - Tag

Mission: To travel the world. Please keep me moving. Do not keep me, but take me to another cache.

"Big Five" refers to a term early hunters gave to the five most dangerous animals to hunt on foot. These animals include the Lion, African Elephant, Rhinoceros (both Hook-Lip (Black) and the Square Lip (White) Rhinos), Leopard and Cape Buffalo. These animals are protected today and are mostly found in game reserves.

The Cape Buffalo (Syncerus caffer) (also called the African Buffalo), is a large African bovine.It is not closely related to the slightly larger wild Asian water buffalo, and its ancestry remains unclear. Syncerus caffer caffer, the Cape buffalo, is the typical subspecies, and the largest one, found in South and East Africa.The adult buffalo's horns is its characteristic feature, it has fused bases, forming a continuous bone shield referred to as a "boss". It is widely regarded as a very dangerous animal, as it gores and kills over 200 people every year.

The Cape Buffalo is not an ancestor of domestic cattle, and is only distantly related to other larger bovines. Owing to its unpredictable nature, which makes it highly dangerous to humans, the African buffalo has never been domesticated unlike its Asian counterpart, the water buffalo. Other than humans, African Cape buffaloes have few predators and are capable of defending themselves, even against Lions. The buffaloes are the lions' primary prey. Being a member of the "big five" game family, the Cape buffalo is a sought-after trophy in big game hunting.

Some interesting facts:

• "Buffalo are reported to kill more hunters in Africa than any other animal. They are known to ambush hunters that have wounded or injured them."
• "The hide on a bull buffalo's neck is as thick as 2 inches in places, which protects it during battles with other bulls for dominance."
•  "Buffalo have smooth tongues — the old lore that their tongues can lick the skin off a man is nonsense."
• Habitat - Dense forest to open plains. Plentiful supplies of grass, shade and water are essential. They avoid wide open areas and flood plains which are far from shade. Buffalo drink regularly, often twice a day, and they frequently remain in the vicinity of water when feeding.
• Diet - Herbivore - Buffalo are herbivorous grazers. They graze almost exclusively, but do include a small amount of browse in their diet.