Bad Tempered Cape Buffalo

The Cape Buffalo, which is found all through Central Africa, as well as southern Africa is one of the most aggressive and bad tempered of the Buffalo family.

This mean spirited animal can actually ward off a lion attack and when the pride brings down a buffalo it is not uncommon for one or more lions to be injured or killed.

Sometimes reaching as tall as five feet and around seven feet long the Cape Buffalo will weigh in at about 1500 pounds each.

The Cape Buffalo has very sharp curving horns, a blunt full nose and deep brown or black fur.

The Cape Buffalo breeds about every other year, and produces one calf, which nurses for 5-6 months before being weaned. The Cape Buffalo calf is able to walk nearly as soon as they are born however, but stay hidden for several weeks. The Cape Buffalo calf, although he may not need milk, still stays with the mother for about two years before leaving.

The Cape Buffalo is one of the more dangerous  animals in the Serengeti,  killing or injuring more people in Tanzania than any other animal that lives in the Serengeti National Park there.
Although they are not carnivores, grazing for many hours a day to get as much as they need to eat, they are still dangerous to humans.

During the hottest part of the day, the Cape Buffalo will rest in the bushes, where they are sometimes surprised by people walking. Quite aggressive they tend to attack first and worry about it later.
When surprised by a human, it is said that the Cape Buffalo will always charge first, either trampling on, or using their horns to gore anything that happens to be in front of them.

The cape Buffalo gather in groups called herds, and in some cases those herds will number more than two hundred animals.

Older male Cape Buffalo many times leave the herd when they are no longer able to breed with the cows and will spend the rest of their life wandering alone. Without their herds to assist them in protecting themselves, the rest of their life is quite often not very long, since they will fall victim to the carnivores, among them lions. O

The Cape Buffalo can charge at speeds around 35 miles per hour and can sometimes outrun a lion, however they are slow in starting due to their great bulk and so are often ambushed by lions in the brush.