Asian Wild Buffalo

The wild water buffalo is a large bovine, the most likely ancestor of the domestic water buffalo but larger and heavier, weighing 600–1,200 kg and standing 150–190 cm at the shoulder. The skin is ash-grey to black, with a tuft on the forehead, comparatively small ears, a bushy tail tip and large, splayed hooves. Both sexes carry heavy-based horns that spread up to 2 m along the outer edges, exceeding those of any other living bovid (Wikipedia, general species account).

In India it is largely restricted to Kaziranga, Manas and Dibru-Saikhowa National Parks, Laokhowa and Bura Chapori Wildlife Sanctuaries and a few pockets in Assam, and around D'Ering Memorial Wildlife Sanctuary in Arunachal Pradesh; in the early 1990s there may have been 3,300–3,500 in Assam and adjacent states. Adult females and young form clans of up to 30 led by old cows, while males form bachelor groups of up to 10. Tigers and mugger crocodiles prey on adults (Wikipedia, general species account).