African buffalo (Syncerus caffer caffer) male with a Western cattle egret (Ardea ibis), Chobe National Park, Botswana🐃

Photo: Charles J. Sharp · CC BY-SA 4.0

SpeciesArtiodactylaBovidae
Mammals

🐃Cape buffalo

Syncerus caffer (Sparrman, 1779)

The African buffalo is a large species of true buffalo native to Sub-Saharan Africa, where it is found in a number of disconnected ranges stretching from south-eastern Senegal through West and Central Africa to South Africa. The adult African buffalo's horns are its characteristic feature: they have fused bases that form a continuous bone shield, referred to as a "boss", across the top of the head. The African buffalo is more closely related to Asian buffalo (Bubalus) species than it is to other bovids such as American bison or domestic cattle. Its unpredictable temperament may be part of the reason that the African buffalo has never been domesticated and has no domesticated descendants, unlike the wild yak and wild water buffalo, which are the ancestors of the domestic yak and water buffalo, respectively. Natural predators of adult African buffaloes include lions, African wild dogs, spotted hyenas, and Nile crocodiles. As one of the Big Five game animals, the Cape buffalo, the largest subspecies native to eastern and southern Africa, is a sought-after trophy in hunting.

Text: Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Videos
629
Photos
6
Measurements
15
vs you
≈ 10× your weight
Also called
African buffalo, African Buffalo
Conservation status
NTNear threatened

IUCN Red List assessment, 2019.

Population trendDecreasing
Key measurements
Body mass
646 kg
Body length
2.96 m
Shoulder height
1.35 m
Top speed
55 km/h
Bite force
not recorded
Maximum lifespan
30 years
All measurements ↓
Facts and figures

Everything we know about the Cape buffalo

Typical adult figures. Where a value is an estimate rather than a measurement, it says so.

Body mass
646 kg
COMBINE
Other figures ↓

Source: COMBINE · v1 (Soria et al. 2021) · CC BY 4.0

Figures vary

  • 700 kgAnAgeAnAge build 15, 2023-07-03 (HAGR)data quality: acceptable
Body length
2.96 m
COMBINE
Details ↓

Source: COMBINE · v1 (Soria et al. 2021) · CC BY 4.0

Shoulder height
1.35 m1–1.7 m · typical range
Details ↓

Range spans all subspecies, so it is wide; not specific to S. c. caffer.

Source: Kingdon 2015, The Kingdon Field Guide to African Mammals · see citation

Top speed
55 km/h
Details ↓

Sprint over a short distance, not a sustained pace. Compilations give 55.44 and 57.02 km/h.

Source: Bejan & Marden 2006, J Exp Biol 209:238 and Christiansen 2002, Zool J Linn Soc 136:685; compiled in Hirt et al. 2017, Nat Ecol Evol 1:1116, Supplementary Data · see citation

Brain mass
583 g
COMBINE
Details ↓

Source: COMBINE · v1 (Soria et al. 2021) · CC BY 4.0

Maximum lifespan
30 years
COMBINE
Other figures ↓

Source: COMBINE · v1 (Soria et al. 2021) · CC BY 4.0

Figures vary

  • 33 yearsAnAgeAnAge build 15, 2023-07-03 (HAGR)data quality: acceptable
Generation length
11 years
COMBINE
Details ↓

Source: COMBINE · v1 (Soria et al. 2021) · CC BY 4.0

Age at maturity
4.6 years
COMBINE
Details ↓

Source: COMBINE · v1 (Soria et al. 2021) · CC BY 4.0

Gestation
333 days
COMBINE
Other figures ↓

Source: COMBINE · v1 (Soria et al. 2021) · CC BY 4.0

Figures vary

  • 331 daysAnAgeAnAge build 15, 2023-07-03 (HAGR)data quality: acceptable
Litter size
1
COMBINE
Other figures ↓

Source: COMBINE · v1 (Soria et al. 2021) · CC BY 4.0

Figures vary

  • 1AnAgeAnAge build 15, 2023-07-03 (HAGR)data quality: acceptable
Trophic level
Herbivore
COMBINE
Details ↓

Source: COMBINE · v1 (Soria et al. 2021) · CC BY 4.0

Activity cycle
Crepuscular / mixed
COMBINE
Details ↓

Source: COMBINE · v1 (Soria et al. 2021) · CC BY 4.0

Home range
64 km²
COMBINE
Details ↓

Source: COMBINE · v1 (Soria et al. 2021) · CC BY 4.0

Population density
2.99 per km²
COMBINE
Details ↓

Source: COMBINE · v1 (Soria et al. 2021) · CC BY 4.0

Volume l
646 Laverage
Details ↓

Body mass at ~1.0 kg/L, the density of vertebrate tissue.

average = a mean across sexes or species in a group.

Not recorded for Cape buffalo yet: bite force.

More

More about the Cape buffalo

Closest relative on this site
🐃 Water buffalo — last shared an ancestor ≈ 5.1 million years ago.
What it eats
leaves, roots and other plants100%
In other languages
Kaffernbüffel (de), búfal africà (ca), buvol africký (cs), Syncerus caffer (es), afrikanpuhveli (fi), buffle d'Afrique (fr) … and 28 more languages

Animals caught on camera

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