---
title: "African Buffalo (Syncerus caffer) | AnimalTracks.wiki"
description: "A heavyweight, cow-like grazer whose bulls sometimes chase lions into trees."
image: "https://animaltracks.wiki/images/animals/african-buffalo-1.webp"
published: "2026-10-12"
updated: "2026-10-12"
---
# African Buffalo (*Syncerus caffer*)
> **Status**: Checked against 5 sources, listed under Sources below.
> **Tagline**: A heavyweight, cow-like grazer whose bulls sometimes chase lions into trees.
> **Soundtrack Vibe**: 2010s Pop & Electropop // Kimbra, "Settle Down"
> **Soundtrack Links**: [Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/track/0hsOsyEaEI8634JYkH3kZS)
> **Vibe Match**: A buffalo stampede starts with one or a few animals and spreads as their neighbours join in. Kimbra's Settle Down opens the same way: one looped voice, then another and another piling on, until the whole track is running.
## Biological Superpowers & Stats
- **Taxonomy**: *Syncerus caffer*
- **Danger Level**: Deadly
- **Conservation Status**: Near Threatened ([IUCN Red List](https://doi.org/10.2305/iucn.uk.2019-1.rlts.t21251a50195031.en))
- **Superpower**: Bulls that have been recorded fending off more than one lion
- **Habitat**: Dense forest to open plains
- **Diet**: Grazes grass and sedges
- **Tags**: mammal, ungulate, hoofed, herbivore, horns, savanna
## Natural History & Behavior
## The prey that hits back
Lions are the main predators of any buffalo more than a year old, and the buffalo fight back. Males have been known to approach lions from a kilometer away to chase them. They sometimes chase lions up trees and will kill a lion that fails to escape. Bulls have been recorded fending off more than one lion, though they usually come away with severe injuries.
## A heavyweight wild cow
The African buffalo, *Syncerus caffer*, is a very large even-toed ungulate, a hoofed mammal with a stocky build and heavy horns. It weighs about 300 to 835 kilograms (660 to 1,840 pounds) and stands about 1 to 2 meters tall.
How big depends on sex and subspecies. Males of the largest subspecies, the Cape buffalo (*S. c. caffer*), can top 835 kg, females reach up to 500 kg, and the horns can span 130 cm. The forest buffalo (*S. c. nanus*) is much shorter, standing only 105 cm at the shoulder.
The African Wildlife Foundation puts the lifespan at 11 to 22 years in the wild. The record in captivity, listed by the AnAge database, is 32.8 years.
Buffalo are grazing ruminants. After a meal of grass and sedges, they have to chew their cud to pull more nutrients out of their food.
## Safety in numbers
A herd can be a handful of animals or more than a thousand. A stampede starts with one or a few buffalo and spreads as their neighbours join in. If the threat is confirmed and serious, it can run for up to a kilometer, or until the young buffalo are too tired to keep going.
Buffalo once roamed most of sub-Saharan Africa. Their range is now much smaller, and in many areas it is largely limited to reserves. They can live almost anywhere with permanent water and grass, from dense lowland forest and montane forest to coastal savanna and semi-arid bushland. The IUCN Red List rates the species Near Threatened. Their size, aggressive nature and formidable horns make them dangerous animals.
## A hideout for a virus
> **The long-haul carrier**
> Foot-and-mouth disease virus has been shown to persist in an individual African buffalo for at least five years.
In one small, isolated wild population of 30 to 100 buffalo, two types of the virus kept going for at least 24 years, through several generations of buffalo.
## Frequently Asked Questions
### How big is a newborn African buffalo?
Newborns in captivity weighed 24 to 60 kg, 40 kg on average. Bigger mothers had heavier calves, and twins are very rare. *(Source: [Animal Diversity Web, University of Michigan]())*
### Why do buffalo stay in big herds?
Herding together in large numbers is one of the buffalo's many defences against predators. In a big herd, lions find it harder to single out any one animal. *(Source: [African Wildlife Foundation]())*
### How often does a female buffalo have a calf?
A female has her first calf at four or five years old, and usually calves only every two years. A calf may suckle for as long as a year. *(Source: [African Wildlife Foundation]())*
## Sources
1. [Syncerus caffer. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2019: e.T21251A50195031.]()
2. [Syncerus caffer (African buffalo). Animal Diversity Web, University of Michigan.]()
3. [African buffalo. African Wildlife Foundation.]()
4. [Syncerus caffer. AnAge: The Animal Ageing and Longevity Database.]()
5. [Condy et al. (1985). The duration of the foot-and-mouth disease virus carrier state in African buffalo (i) in the individual animal and (ii) in a free-living herd. Comparative Immunology, Microbiology and Infectious Diseases.]()
*Published October 12, 2026. Last updated October 12, 2026.*
```json
{
"@context": "https://schema.org",
"@graph": [
{
"@type": "Article",
"@id": "https://animaltracks.wiki/animals/african-buffalo/#article",
"isPartOf": {
"@id": "https://animaltracks.wiki/#website"
},
"headline": "African Buffalo (Syncerus caffer) | AnimalTracks.wiki",
"description": "A heavyweight, cow-like grazer whose bulls sometimes chase lions into trees.",
"image": [
"https://animaltracks.wiki/images/animals/african-buffalo-1.webp"
],
"datePublished": "2026-10-12",
"dateModified": "2026-10-12",
"author": [
{
"@type": "Organization",
"name": "AnimalTracks.wiki Editorial Team",
"url": "https://animaltracks.wiki"
}
],
"publisher": {
"@type": "Organization",
"@id": "https://animaltracks.wiki/#organization",
"name": "AnimalTracks.wiki",
"url": "https://animaltracks.wiki",
"logo": {
"@type": "ImageObject",
"url": "https://animaltracks.wiki/icon-512.png"
}
},
"mainEntityOfPage": "https://animaltracks.wiki/animals/african-buffalo/",
"citation": [
{
"@type": "ScholarlyArticle",
"name": "Syncerus caffer. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2019: e.T21251A50195031",
"url": "https://doi.org/10.2305/iucn.uk.2019-1.rlts.t21251a50195031.en",
"datePublished": "2019",
"isPartOf": {
"@type": "Periodical",
"name": "The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species"
},
"identifier": "doi:10.2305/iucn.uk.2019-1.rlts.t21251a50195031.en"
},
{
"@type": "CreativeWork",
"name": "Syncerus caffer (African buffalo)",
"url": "https://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Syncerus_caffer/",
"publisher": {
"@type": "Organization",
"name": "Animal Diversity Web, University of Michigan"
}
},
{
"@type": "CreativeWork",
"name": "African buffalo",
"url": "https://www.awf.org/wildlife-conservation/african-buffalo",
"publisher": {
"@type": "Organization",
"name": "African Wildlife Foundation"
}
},
{
"@type": "CreativeWork",
"name": "Syncerus caffer",
"url": "https://genomics.senescence.info/species/entry.php?species=Syncerus_caffer",
"publisher": {
"@type": "Organization",
"name": "AnAge: The Animal Ageing and Longevity Database"
}
},
{
"@type": "ScholarlyArticle",
"name": "The duration of the foot-and-mouth disease virus carrier state in African buffalo (i) in the individual animal and (ii) in a free-living herd",
"url": "https://doi.org/10.1016/0147-9571(85)90004-9",
"author": "Condy et al.",
"datePublished": "1985",
"isPartOf": {
"@type": "Periodical",
"name": "Comparative Immunology, Microbiology and Infectious Diseases"
},
"identifier": "doi:10.1016/0147-9571(85)90004-9"
}
],
"about": {
"@type": "Taxon",
"name": "African Buffalo",
"scientificName": "Syncerus caffer",
"description": "Bulls that have been recorded fending off more than one lion"
}
},
{
"@type": "FAQPage",
"@id": "https://animaltracks.wiki/animals/african-buffalo/#faq",
"mainEntity": [
{
"@type": "Question",
"name": "How big is a newborn African buffalo?",
"acceptedAnswer": {
"@type": "Answer",
"text": "Newborns in captivity weighed 24 to 60 kg, 40 kg on average. Bigger mothers had heavier calves, and twins are very rare.",
"citation": {
"@type": "CreativeWork",
"name": "Syncerus caffer (African buffalo)",
"url": "https://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Syncerus_caffer/",
"publisher": {
"@type": "Organization",
"name": "Animal Diversity Web, University of Michigan"
}
}
}
},
{
"@type": "Question",
"name": "Why do buffalo stay in big herds?",
"acceptedAnswer": {
"@type": "Answer",
"text": "Herding together in large numbers is one of the buffalo's many defences against predators. In a big herd, lions find it harder to single out any one animal.",
"citation": {
"@type": "CreativeWork",
"name": "African buffalo",
"url": "https://www.awf.org/wildlife-conservation/african-buffalo",
"publisher": {
"@type": "Organization",
"name": "African Wildlife Foundation"
}
}
}
},
{
"@type": "Question",
"name": "How often does a female buffalo have a calf?",
"acceptedAnswer": {
"@type": "Answer",
"text": "A female has her first calf at four or five years old, and usually calves only every two years. A calf may suckle for as long as a year.",
"citation": {
"@type": "CreativeWork",
"name": "African buffalo",
"url": "https://www.awf.org/wildlife-conservation/african-buffalo",
"publisher": {
"@type": "Organization",
"name": "African Wildlife Foundation"
}
}
}
}
]
},
{
"@type": "MusicRecording",
"name": "Settle Down",
"byArtist": {
"@type": "MusicGroup",
"name": "Kimbra"
},
"genre": "2010s Pop & Electropop",
"url": "https://open.spotify.com/track/0hsOsyEaEI8634JYkH3kZS"
}
]
}
```