Bubalus presents the following paradoxes:
Extremely docile in human habituation, but ferocious towards predators.
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Domesticated but not directly selectively bred.
Cockrill (1974), on pages 309-310, states:
“Throughout most of the buffalo world, it is remarkable how little attention has been paid to breeding techniques aimed at improving productivity. Breeding, in fact, is almost universally haphazard…There are few, if any, domestic animals which have suffered from consistent neglect to the extent of the water buffalo…Plans for cattle improvement are often prepared with great care and skill and are projected on a long-term basis…It is illogical to neglect the potential of the water buffalo and to concentrate all livestock improvement measures on one animal…In order to appreciate the extent of the repudiation of the water buffalo, it has to be realised that in only a very few enlightened areas are any steps being taken to upgrade the local stocks, even by the simplest of breeding principles. The amount of practical research devoted to improving the productivity of the buffalo is negligible compared to the attention given to all aspects of cattle production.”
Fast-growing but long-lived.
Prone to heat-stress, but dark-pigmented in the case of B. bubalis
My interpretation: Bubalus forages nocturnally, and spends the day wet
The faeces are wet, but sweating is minimal.
Bubalus bubalis is heat-sensitive, but pigmented to the degree of being blackish.
Bubalus kerabau combines sparse pelage with intricate markings.
Extremely productive despite being adapted for extremely poor food
Cockrill (1974), on page 309, states:
“…there are few domestic species which have a production potential to rival that of the water buffalo…the capacity of the buffalo to convert feedstuffs into milk is probably unequalled by any other species of farm animal. In all countries – and there are at least 25 of them – where significant populations of buffaloes exist, there is a decisive place for the buffalo in complementing the production of cattle…in India the average milking buffalo produces considerably more than the average milking cow.”
The hide is tough but edible.
See pages 37-308 in Cockrill (1974)
This paradox is not necessarily distinctive of Bubalus, being possibly shared with other bovins
Posted on June 9, 2026 07:25 PM by
milewski