Hello brothers and sisters in our wildlife industry. As per the fee we re-enter our stream to know at least a little bit about the wildlife and the direction of these animals. Today I am coming up with another animal that people are familiar with say the least. Now as we know here you will find to add 85% more in knowing him than you used to know him. And one by one I was talking about "Buffalo (VEG)" "Keep your mind straight and let's go together in this flow my brother.
INTRODUCTION
Buffaloes are large herds of cattle that live in forests or forests, although some are domesticated by humans. It should be noted that there are two types of buffalo that are (1) the African buffalo and (2) the water buffalo of the Asian continent. All these buffaloes have identical colors which are gray which tends to be as black. Buffaloes are widely distributed animals, especially in Africa, and are easily seen, especially in national parks and game reserves in various African countries.
As always we are proud of what we have in Africa and especially in our country Tanzania. Here without wasting any time we are going to look at the African buffalo. The African buffalo are divided into two groups: the wild buffalo and the savanna buffalo.
Here in Tanzania the buffalo is a very popular animal and especially until it is incorporated into five animals that are like pillars to show the quality and value of the wildlife we have in our reserves. These five animals in a foreign language are called "BIG FIVE" which are Elephants, Rhinos, Buffaloes, Lions and Leopards. Now here we see how the buffalo is a very important animal especially in promoting the nation also in terms of natural resources.
CHARACTERISTICS OF AFRICAN Buffaloes
1. They have a gray color that tends to be black or brown mainly due to the different areas and species of African buffalo.
2. They have full bodies, heavier legs and stronger legs.
3. African buffaloes have large heads and short mashing.
4. They have large curved horns on the inside like a hook… The male has larger female horns and is very close especially to the lower parts. And this is one of the ways to distinguish between the female and the male. But the wild buffalo has horns that want to straighten a little differently from the others.
5. They have small and dull ears… Often the ears stop when they feel danger.
They are able to detect and detect an object by smell even when it is far away from the wind direction.
7. Males have a larger body compared to female buffalo.
8. Buffaloes have the ability to walk 5.4 kilometers per hour. But by running buffalo they are able to run up to 57 meters per hour.
WEIGHT WEIGHT
Wild buffalo 265kg-320kg
Savanna buffalo 300kg-900kg
LENGTH
Head and body 170cm-cm 340cm
Tail 70cm-centimeter110cm
KIMO
Centimeter 100cm-centimeter 170cm
AGE
When a buffalo is in a national park or any other protected area it can live up to 20 years. But when he is bred he is up to 29 years old.
BEHAVIOR OF BUFFALO
Here are a lot of things you will learn about this animal and then you will get the 85% I mentioned earlier.
1. Savanna buffalo live in large herds ranging from 50-500 animals. And in this group in it there are small family groups that are made up of mothers and children.
2. The cooperation of mothers is very great and especially when they hear their partner making a complaining or dangerous voice then they are ready to come and help her. This helps even protect the weak in danger from their enemies.
Within these groups there is also a group of males who have and have not had any mating females and this group of males can have up to 12 animals.
4. Forest buffalo are often found in small herds where there are 8-20 animals and this group has mothers who are very close especially relatives and children.
5.Buffaloes are animals that can perform their activities during the day and even at night because they are able to see you at least a short distance at night.
6. Buffaloes spend 18 hours a day eating and during that time the herd walks from one place to another.
7. Buffaloes need to drink water every day and these animals are often found in areas where access to water is very easy. He drinks water often in the morning.
8. When there is a water problem, buffalo gather together in areas where the water distance is short from above the ground and then begin to kick their feet down in a joint and eventually make a hole until the water rises up and then they start drinking.
9. They prefer to bathe in mud and this is because they remove germs from the body but also reduce heat especially during hot weather.
10. The summer period from noon to 4pm the buffalo like to rest and this time they have chewing gum and then start chewing it again. They often rest in sunny places and not in the rain
11. In areas that are heavily invaded by humans buffalo like to eat at night and this is to avoid the risk of being disturbed by humans while they are eating.
12. The African buffalo are held to democracy and when it comes time to travel, they stand one by one in the direction they want to go. After that the side that has the largest number then appears the winners and the female buffalo leader precedes it and then the rest of them follow the same direction.
IMPORTANT TO KNOW….
* A buffalo is an animal that has the ability to remember an injured person, for example, a hunter or a wild animal if he was defending himself from being killed and beaten by a buffalo. So remember this buffalo if he recovers and sees you somewhere he has the ability to remember and he will only take revenge.
* Buffaloes have been the most dangerous animals in the history of killing humans after a hippo.
GROWTH
Buffaloes are herbivores. So their biggest food is grass but sometimes when there is a leaf problem then buffalo eat even on small trees. And as we have seen above, buffalo spend up to 18 hours in a day's diet. This is a very long time when this animal is very strong when you look at it.
ENVIRONMENT
Buffaloes are endemic animals living in a wide variety of environments ranging from savannas, grasslands, shrubs and forests as well. And they have the ability to live in an open, cloudless area for a very long time.
And all the African buffaloes do not live more than 20 kilometers from the water surface because they need water every day.
BIRTH
If the weather is good and the rains are good the buffalo can breed at any time of the year. But the mariners usually mate from the third month to the fifth month. But if water becomes scarce then buffalo breed during the wet season. The female buffalo enters the menstrual cycle every 23 days and lasts for five to six days.
When she becomes pregnant the female buffalo stays pregnant for 340 days and gives birth to one. It is very rare for a buffalo to give birth to two babies. The savanna buffalo are born with a dark brown or reddish-brown color at a distance while forest buffalo are born with a pale red color. The average weight of the baby buffalo at birth is 40 kg but savanna buffalo sometimes reach 55-60 kg at birth. The mother stays and protects the baby for six months under very strict supervision especially from enemies. The baby buffalo reaches the age of birth at the age of three and a half to five years. After that age the females remain attached to the mother group while the males join the group of fathers. It should be noted that if the environment is good, buffalo breed every year.
THE IMPORTANCE OF THE BUFFALO
1. Buffaloes are a major tourist attraction, especially when one hears that buffalo are among the five largest and most important animals in the country. One gets very excited and longs to know exactly who this buffalo is but also to see him.
2. The government is making a lot of money through the tourism industry, especially the ministry of natural resources and tourism as there are tourists from different countries to see the animal as a buffalo only.
3. Also in hunting blocks the government only earns a lot of money and if you want to believe this look at the areas where there are game reserves owned by community members or villages you will get statistics on how much they earn per year by issuing buffalo hunting permits.
4. Buffaloes are used as a delicacy for the people and thus increase their health by eating protein from buffalo meat.
5. Raw materials such as leather, hooves and horns of buffalo are also used to make items such as shoes, clothes and a lot of home decor and even clothing.
STORAGE HERE IN OUR COUNTRY TANZANIA
It is a matter of pride that the buffaloes have not yet been included in the world's endangered species. But this is not enough to convince ourselves that they will continue to remain as numbers are at the moment because our buffalo are facing so many problems in the reserve. Those problems and challenges we are going to see below now.
CHALLENGES / PROBLEMS WITH BUILDERS IN TANZANIA
1. Extreme poaching, especially in our national parks. Buffaloes are widely hunted by poachers for meat purposes,
leather and its other raw materials. This leads to a significant reduction in the number of these animals in the reserve.
2. Environmental degradation mainly caused by humans in isolated wildlife areas. The environment has been severely degraded and buffaloes and other animals have been deprived of food and have been forced to relocate. All of this is due to the invasion of protected areas due to increased human activity.
3. Various diseases such as anthrax and rift valley fever, Although diseases are not a big problem to say that I emphasize a lot because wildlife is born in the wild with genes to help them fight various diseases different from pets. Wildlife is more resistant to disease especially compared to the animals we keep in our homes.
4. POLITICS in conservation, I dare say that politics is as much poison as the problem of poaching in wildlife. Many leaders have been pushing the issue of politics into conservation and ultimately making conservation activities extremely difficult. And all this is due to the interest in seeking votes from the people and forgetting that there are future generations who will need to see the presence of buffalo and other wildlife in our national parks. Let me give you just a good example of what is going on in Loliondo between the wildlife reserve and the relevant authorities. The fact is that villagers are invading wildlife areas but whenever it comes to banning them and evicting them, their leaders intervene to defend them, believing that if the villagers are given the land, they will not vote for him.
5. Weak hunting, there is a big difference when we say poaching and weak hunting. Weak hunting is that a person already has a hunting permit and is given permission to hunt one or two buffaloes with his permit. But when he is there he breaks the rules and multiplies the number of buffalo he was supposed to hunt. Permits are also often issued for hunting buffaloes but one hunts until the females and the offspring this greatly leads to the decline of these males mainly due to weak hunting.
6. Conflicts between wildlife and humans, buffalo are migratory animals and when they migrate they sometimes pass through the fields to people and eat their produce. This leads to villagers killing them with poison or even by shooting them. But if we go back this is caused by people invading conservation areas and starting human activities in those areas.