African Buffalo

 African buffalo, ruminant mammal of the subfamily of bulls, the only species of the genus Syncerus; most powerful of modern wild bulls.
 African buffalo differs powerful body, low muscular legs, strong neck, dull, small, low-set head. Horn close together and form a broad base on the forehead solid armor. Widely diverging to the sides and bottom, then the horns and then climb up and slightly bent inwards with sharp smooth ends. The distances between the ends of the horns sometimes reach a meter. Although the size of the African buffalo gives Indian, but exceeds it in mass, old males may reach a weight of 1200 kg. The body is covered with buffalo afriknskogo sparse coarse hair, which almost cover the dark brown or black leather.
 Inside are three types of subspecies. The largest of them lives in Eastern and Southern Africa. Smaller and korotkorogy subspecies occupies the range from Senegal to the middle reaches of the Nile. And in the forests of the Congo Basin and the Gulf of Guinea third subspecies lives - red bull.
 The African buffalo has mastered a variety of landscapes, from tropical forest to arid savanna. He climbs into the mountains to a height of three thousand feet, but everywhere is kept near the water. Buffalo avoids cultivated agricultural land and, despite extensive habitat, it is stored mostly in national parks and sanctuaries. The largest herd of buffalo, numbering several hundred animals in the national park Lake Manyara (Tanzania).
But usually the buffaloes kept in groups of 20-30 animals, gathering in large herds only in the dry season. According to the composition of buffalo are heterogeneous: in some cases it is a cow with calves, bulls in the other only in the third bulls with the cows. Most adult bulls are kept in the strong alone or in pairs. Buffaloes single very attached to their habitats, while not showing aggression, if it appears within a group of strangers buffalo.
 They feed on grasses and buffalo, only occasionally, young branches and leaves. They graze at night and the day is carried out in the shade of trees, bushes or lying in the marsh mud. Buffalo are extremely cautious, especially cows with calves. At risk of a herd of a defensive position: males ahead of females with calves behind. However, a bloody clash Buffaloes prefer to flee. In spite of the heavy-weight structure, they are very agile and develop on the run speed 57 km / h
 Since the beginning of the rut the bulls join the groups of cows. During this period, the bulls arrange ritual fights for dominance in the herd. Pregnancy lasts 10-11 months, the cows during the calving of mass, which falls at the end of the dry period, cows retire from the common herd. The calf is fed mother's milk for about six months.