Water buffalo are used for ploughing and other kinds of labor, and as a
source of meat, strong leather and milk. They can be found around Asia
and in countries like Turkey, Italy, Australia and Egypt as well.
They are mostly found in places where there is lots of rainfall or
water because they get dehydrated quickly and need water and mud to
wallow around in. The water buffalo population in the world is around
172 million, with 96 percent of them in Asia.
Water buffalo are called carabao in the Philippines and are known as
the national animal of the country. In India their milk is a major
source of protein. In Southeast Asia they plough rice fields.
One Thai animal farmer said, "they're the spine of the nation and are
very important to our way of life. "Described as the "living tractor of
the East," they have been introduced to Europe, Africa, the Americas,
Australia, Japan, and Hawaii. There are seventy four breeds of domestic
water buffalo.
The water buffalo or domestic Asian water buffalo (Bubalus bubalis) is
a sizable bovid found on the Indian subcontinent to Vietnam and
Peninsular Malaysia, in Sri Lanka, in Luzon Island in the Philippines,
and in Borneo. The wild water buffalo (Bubalus arnee) native to
Southeast Asia is considered a special species but most likely
represents the ancestor of the domestic water buffalo.
There are 2 kinds of
water buffalo--each considered a subspecies--are located on
morphological and behavioural criteria:
1) the river buffalo of the Indian subcontinent and west to the Balkans
and Italy; and
2) the swamp buffalo, located from Assam in the west going through the
southeast of Asia to the Yangtze area of China in the east.
The birth place of the domestic water buffalo breeds are debated,
although results of a phylogenetic research indicate that the swamp
type may have originated in China and domesticated around 4,000 years
back, while the river type may have originated from India and was
domesticated around 5,000 years ago.
Researched from Encyclopedia Britannica, the river buffalo was living
by 2500 before Christ in India and 1000 BC in Mesopotamia. The breed
was chosen mainly for its milk, which contains 8 % butterfat. Breeds
range from the Murrah with their curled horns, the Surati, and the
Jafarabadi.
Swamp buffalo more closely resemble wild water buffalo and are used as
draft animals in rice paddies through Southeast Asia. Types of breeds
range from the 900-kg (2, 000-pound) Thai and haizi to the 400-kg
wenzhou and carabao. Children ride them to their wallows after their
labours and clean their faces plus ears.
These animals are especially well suited for tilling grain fields, and
the milk is richer in fat and protein than that of the dairy cattle.
Through much of Southeast Asia and South Asia water buffalo stay the
key draft animals for farming, although tractors have substituted them
in many areas, particularly where crops besides rice are cultivated.
Buffalo, predominantly of the swamp breed is well much matched to paddy
culture. It's able to flourish on rough fodder and roughage
indigestible by other animals, and can be located in all sorts of
farming areas.
Even in poor locations, small paddy livestock farmers usually own at
least 1 animal. After maturing, buffalo can be used as draft livestock
for 5 or 6 years, or until they are too old to work, then they are
killed and sold for meat.