Arnie: Enormous Wild Water Cows (10 photos)

The Indian or Asian buffalo, arni, or carabao is a powerful beast that looks like a cow (4 hooves, horns, and a wet nose), but don't be fooled. Our cows are nothing compared to these Indian ungulates, and their lifestyles are radically different.





Get out of my swamp!

Buffaloes are a kind of Indian hippopotamus. They lie in the water for hours, wallow in the mud, and periodically scare tourists. And why not, if the size allows? An adult male Indian buffalo can weigh up to 1,700 kilos and stand about 2 meters tall at the withers. This is a stocky and very angry nightstand.



This is the case when a pedestrian is thicker than a car.

They are similar in size to hippopotamuses, and they are also armed with horns. Both males and females have horns, and the beast can gore equally painfully regardless of gender. From tip to tip, these instruments of justice can reach 2 meters! The only ones who can compete with the carabao in terms of horn length are domestic longhorn cows - their record is 2.4 meters per horn. But let's be honest: no one in the wild would even think of growing such things. It's just irrational!





Hypertrophic breed (longhorn).



Unique original (Indian buffalo).

The easiest place to meet Indian buffalo, oddly enough, is in India. Today, about 95% of the world's carabao population lives there - about 3,500 individuals. The rest of the carabaos roam the forests of Nepal, Thailand, Bhutan, Cambodia and Myanmar, but it is not easy to find them, regardless of the region of residence.



Mothers and daughters.

Ungulates lead a reclusive lifestyle. Their small, up to 30 individuals, family groups stay in forests and swamps untouched by humans, so they are rarely seen by people. The families themselves, by the way, consist mainly of female relatives and their cubs. They occupy a territory of up to 10 square kilometers, but, unlike other territorial animals, buffaloes do not keep the border locked. The ranges of several herds can intersect, especially where there are large and shallow bodies of water for swimming.



When your beloved has been sitting in the bath for two hours.

After all, you can't feed buffaloes sugar cane, just let them lie in water. There they rest from the scorching sun and insects, and there they graze: algae can make up more than half of the arnie's diet. The animals also love to wallow in the mud, because when it dries on the fur, it becomes a natural mask that protects against insect bites, sunburn and overheating.



Come to our therapeutic mud. It's great here!

In the fall, adult males join the cow groups. Usually, they are too aggressive and pugnacious to stay in the herd for long, so the ban on their presence is lifted only on the eve of the mating season. The buffaloes have chosen the perfect time for reproduction. The rainy season has just ended, everything around is blooming and fragrant. The expectant mother has received enough vitamins and has accumulated a reserve that will be enough to bear a strong calf. And she will need a lot of resources, because the pregnancy of the Arni lasts almost a year. The baby will be born exactly in the middle of the rainy season, when fresh and juicy grass comes out. Nature has thought of everything!



Ladies, hello! Can we come in yet?

Except for humans. Today, the species is on the verge of extinction, the world population is less than 4,000 individuals - this is very little even for such large animals. Habitat loss, hunting and imported diseases that arrived with cattle have brought the mighty beasts to their knees. Even a ban on hunting is of little help, because the head of an Indian buffalo with huge mugs is a coveted trophy for criminals and scoundrels. A trophy for which they pay huge money.



Scientists predict that the buffalo population will decline by another 50% over the next 3 generations, about 30 years.

There is only one dubious joy: even if a species goes extinct, its genes will continue to live. About 5,000 years ago, people were able to domesticate a small part of the Indian buffalo. They were harnessed to a plow, forced to carry loads and work in the fields. Yes, the animals are not at all like their wild ancestors. They have changed a lot over the years of living with humans. But they are numerous and are popular with people to this day.



By the way, it is extremely difficult to work in the rice fields without domestic buffalo. Even equipment cannot cope with the mud.