Home: Animals: Mammals: Cape Buffalo

Bio Facts: Cape Buffalo
Common Name: Cape Buffalo Cape Buffalo
Scientific Name: Syncerus caffer caffer
Family: Bovidae
Order: Artiodactyla
Class: Mammalia
Range: East Africa, Central and South Africa
Habitat: Savannas and woodlands
Description: Up to 5’ 5” tall at the shoulder and reach weights up to 1800 lbs. Fur is brown to black, and thins out as they age. The horns are large, and nearly meet in the center of the forehead. Males have flatter, wider horns used for butting heads when fighting. Ears are large and fringed with hair.
Life Expectancy: Up to 29 years in captivity and 18 years in the wild
Sexual Maturity: 3 to 5 years
Diet: In the wild they eat herbs, grasses and leaves. In the Zoo, they are fed grain and hay.
Status: Not Listed
Behaviors: During breeding season, bulls fight over the cows in estrous. Fighting involves shoving and head butting. If the loser is wounded, he will leave the herd. The dominant bull has preference in selecting cows in estrous.

The gestation period is 11 months, with 1 calf normally produced. The calf is nursed for 6 months. Female calves may stay with their mothers, while male calves leave after 2 years.

Herds range in size from a dozen to several hundred. An older female is the matriarch. Older and younger mature males form their own small groups. They rest during the day, and feed early in the evening. Typical behavior includes bathing and wallowing in the mud.
Adaptations: Cape buffaloes have a four-chambered, ruminating stomachs. Partially chewed food is stored in the rumen (market basket), and then regurgitated into the mouth for re-chewing (cud). It is swallowed again, and passes through the reticulum, omasum (mystery chamber), and abomasum (true stomach) with digestion being assisted by a heavy bacterial concentration. The four-chambered stomach allows the animal to chew quickly and retire to a safe place to finish.

To feed, they twist grass around the tongue and cut it off with the lower incisors.

Hearing and sense of smell are excellent.
Special Interest: The Cape buffalo is considered to be one of the most dangerous of all big game animals. They will still attack even when they are wounded.

The Latin name syncerus means “together horn.”
Folklore: According to ancient Bushman folklore, the Cape buffalo was at one time a feared carnivorous hunter.
Conservation: In 1890, the rinderpest epidemic killed nearly 90 percent of them. It took 30 years for the population to recover.

They play a major role in the ecology of grasslands. Several of the smaller grazers are not able to digest the taller grasses, and the tall grasses prevent them from getting to the shorter, more appetizing grasses. The Cape buffalo crops the tall grasses allowing smaller grazers access to the shorter grasses.
Jacksonville Zoo History: The first Cape buffaloes to arrive here were four (2.2) imported animals in November 1966. This species has been in our animal collection ever since, and has successfully bred here. One male and both females of the original group were wild caught. One of the breedings that took place produced our current male, “Bully, Jr.” Once very common in North American zoos, today only two-dozen Cape buffaloes can be found in five institutions.
Revised: May 2001