Sara is a recently graduated PhD in Education with interdisciplinary experience in K-12 education.
Imagine you're in warm, sunny India walking along the banks of a river when you notice a big brown animal with curved pointy horns splashing around in the water - what could it be? Why, it's a water buffalo!
Water buffalo are big bovine animals that live in the warm climates of central Asia. Being a bovine means that water buffalo are related to other animals like cows and bison. There are a few important things that make a water buffalo different from a black and white cow that you might see on a farm. These include the way they look and why they live in water.
Water buffalo are huge - they can range in size from 6.5 to 9.5 feet tall and weigh up to 2,600 pounds. That's almost as much as a small car! Male and female water buffalo also have enormous curved horns on their heads. They use these horns to defend themselves and dig holes in the mud to lie in.
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There are many advantages to living in and near water, especially for water buffalo. First, water buffalo like to eat aquatic plants, or plants that grow in rivers and streams. Second, spending time in muddy water protects water buffalo from the sun, keeping them cool in the hot places that they live. Finally, water can protect these animals from predators, other animals that hunt and eat water buffalo. While predators like tigers and lions that might want to eat a water buffalo for lunch usually stay away from water, crocodiles do not. Lucky for the water buffalo, they've got those big horns for protection!
Like their bovine cousin the cow, water buffalo have also been domesticated by humans. When animals have been domesticated, it means that they have been conditioned to live with and work for people. People use water buffalos' size and strength to help them pull heavy loads and plow fields. Domesticated water buffalo do so much plowing in countries like India and Nepal that they are sometimes called ''the tractors of the East.''
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Not all water buffalo are domesticated. There are still herds of wild water buffalo roaming the banks of rivers in Asia. These wild animals are endangered because people hunt them for their horns, meat, and leather. There are fewer than 4,000 wild water buffalo living today.
Water buffalo are large cow-like animals with long curved horns that live in Central Asia. Living in or near the water provides water buffalo with food like aquatic pants and protection from predators. Some domesticated water buffalo are used by humans to do work, while wild buffalo are hunted by humans, and as a result, are endangered.
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Plants & Animals for Kids34 chapters | 317 lessons
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