| **T**his large mammal species is typically divided into two species in all – the wild water buffalo [//Bubalus arnee//] and its domesticated counterpart [//Bubalus bubalis//]. The two differ dramatically in terms of population – where the wild water buffalo is considered as an endangered species, of which less than 4000 animals are believed to remain, the domesticated buffalo appears to thrive well – with over 160 million domestic water buffalo existing worldwide, farmed mainly for milk, meat and as a draught-animal. The domestic water buffalo can be split further into two sub-species – the river buffalo [//B. bubalis bubalis//] and swamp buffalo [//B. bubalis carabanesis//], which are distinct in chromosome number – river animals have 48 chromosomes, where their swamp relatives have 50, and hybrids of the two subspecies appear to have 49. In domestication, the water-buffalo can be split further still, into over 100 distinct domestic breeds. The two subspecies of buffalo seem to have evolved separately, and also domesticated separately – the river buffalo was domesticated some 6000 years ago, and its swamp relative some 5000 or so years, give or take an extra 2000 years. Its genus, //Bubalis//, is shared with the 2 species of anoa, and the Tamaraw, a small buffalo of the island of Mindoro. | **T**his large mammal species-group is typically divided into two species in all – the wild water buffalo [//Bubalus arnee//] and its domesticated counterpart [//Bubalus bubalis//]. The two differ dramatically in terms of population – where the wild water buffalo is considered as an endangered species, of which less than 4000 animals are believed to remain, the domesticated buffalo appears to thrive well – with over 160 million domestic water buffalo existing worldwide, farmed mainly for milk, meat and as a draught-animal. The domestic water buffalo can be split further into two sub-species – the river buffalo [//B. bubalis bubalis//] and swamp buffalo [//B. bubalis carabanesis//], which are distinct in chromosome number – river animals have 48 chromosomes, where their swamp relatives have 50, and hybrids of the two subspecies appear to have 49. In domestication, the water-buffalo can be split further still, into over 100 distinct domestic breeds. The two subspecies of buffalo seem to have evolved separately, and also domesticated separately – the river buffalo was domesticated some 6000 years ago, and its swamp relative some 5000 or so years, give or take an extra 2000 years. Its genus, //Bubalis//, is shared with the 2 species of anoa, and the Tamaraw, a small buffalo of the island of Mindoro. |
