How many sub-species are there and what are they like. Can you hunt them all? I know there are several sub-species and Capes are one, but what about the rest?

To cut a long story short /

Bovinae

Southern Buffalo (African Buffalo) Syncerus caffer caffer - Southern

North Eastern Buffalo (Nile Buffalo) Syncerus caffer aequinoctialis - Nile

North Western Buffalo Syncerus caffer aequinoctialis - Noth west

Dwarf Forest Buffalo Syncerus nanus caffer - Dwarf Forrest

Now that would be a CHALLENGE to get a bag of ALL FOUR species of Africa buffalo

Cheers, Peter

Is ther eany one that would be harder to get to? Or more dangerous?

Peter

the "North Western Buffalo Syncerus caffer aequinoctialis - Noth west" is quite different from what You are indicating :


All the buffs I saw in Benin and Burkina are mostly black with this kind of horns



333-OKH
The four can be challenging. IMO, the forrest dwarf red buffalo is the meanest. I'll meet him in the CAR in 3 weeks. He is living in the jungle, coexisting with the Nile Buff which is more numerous there.The dwarf is really bad tempered and is charging just right in your lap in places where the vegetation is so dense that you can't see your right hand and the left's at the same time.

Note the North western Buff (Benin) is biting back too :

quote:

Note the North western Buff (Benin) is biting back too :

OOPS!!!!!!!!!!!!!

jbderunz

This camera man is either stupid ar very lucky. First time I see charge foto's from this side. Great foto's looks like a great hunt to.

Wimpie

Interesting info, thanks for the links. But I find it somewhat puzzling that Namibia is surrounded by Buffalo but has none, at least according to the distro maps they have posted, Waidmannsheil, Dom.

Dom,

FWIW, the distribution maps on the links you see above are not totally correct. Especially with the northwestern buffalo. And most likely a bit off when it comes to others too. As for Namibia, there are buff on the Caprivi Strip, but the rest of Namibia is very arid compaired to many of the surrounding countries.

Guys, I am a Wildlife Biologist and avid hunter. The pictures and descriptions of these different sub-species seems to satisfy both sides. Thanks a lot and keep them up. I love it.

Isn't there buffalo (Cape Buffalo) on Waterberg in Namibia as well?? There were a few years back.

In general, most of Namibia is a tad dry for Buffalo, plus most of the land is really farm land..

- mike

Which buffalo is this one? I really like the looks of this guy? Any pictures of the cranky dwarf?

HI 333_OKH

The red buff is one I shot in Burkina Faso. It's a rare specimen for 2 reasons : first he is red instead of black, second his body size (and partly horns)are higher than average.
This is a (large) typical Western buff (bush cow) with hairy ears and, like the forrest dwarf buff, flat horns.
The strangest country is the CAR where one can meet
Mainly the Nile Buff
in jungle the dwarf loony buff
and a kind of buff looking like the Western, in fact half western-half nile.
From the Kenya harbouring the Cape buff to the Senegal, the buff is gradually evolving to the Nile buff (with the horns high up) and then to the Western buff with flat horns like the mad short-fused dwarf buff which remains in dense forrest and charge at short notice.

The charge's pictures show Mr PH Michel Coatmelec (ACP) finishing a wounded buff as a friend (not the hunter) is taking pics. The guy didn't notice he was in the shooting lane. As Coatmelec told me , there was no choice. Either he shot and everybody was safe, or he waited a bit and the hunter was smashed. Michel Coatmelec had to shoot before the buff lined up with the photograph or the hunter. Dilemma!!!!!

That red buffalo is really cool to look at. That is a hell of a wound it has in the spine! If any of you have the Dwarf I would love to see them too. I like the strange and obscure game animals.

I need to sart another of these posts.

FWIW, Boddingotn on Buffalo has pretty good descriptions of all of them.

I would love to hear more if you can on the less comon subspecies like the forest and dwarf?

Have a look at Reinald von Meurer :â€Buffalo, elephant and Bongo†Safari Press


Many people have been on safari but few have been on safari alone! Dr. Reinald von Meurers's record is unique: He has been on twenty-five self-guided hunts in the Cameroon; he has hunted from Lake Chad to the border of the Congo; and he has gone after elephant, bongo, buffalo, and a host of other animals over a period of nearly two decades. Follow him as he faces bull elephant deep in the rain forest (more than twenty miles by foot to the nearest village); is threatened by a large gorilla; floats for several weeks down a remote river in search of new hunting grounds; bags forest rarities like sitatunga, giant forest hog, and bushpig; hunts for a record-book dwarf buffalo; avoids snakes and stinging honey bees; and in general has the time of his life hunting solo in one of the most remote areas left on this earth. Illustrated with dozens of pictures, this book is an antidote for those tired of reading the usual safari story.
FOR MORE :

Buff, ele & bongo
and click on “ read this excerpt†to read a PDF narration.

quote:

Originally posted by jbderunz:
The red buff is one I shot in Burkina Faso. It's a rare specimen for 2 reasons : first he is red instead of black, second his body size (and partly horns)are higher than average.
This is a (large) typical Western buff (bush cow) with hairy ears and, like the forrest dwarf buff, flat horns.
The strangest country is the CAR where one can meet
Mainly the Nile Buff in jungle the dwarf loony buff
and a kind of buff looking like the Western, in fact half western-half nile. From the Kenya harbouring the Cape buff to the Senegal, the buff is gradually evolving to the Nile buff (with the horns high up) and then to the Western buff with flat horns like the mad short-fused dwarf buff which remains in dense forrest and charge at short notice.

As will be found with all animal classifications, there are many arguments amongst even the most respected parties. These transition buffalo you refer to are, increasingly referred to as "ecotone buffalo", the term defined as: the zones transition between adjacent ecological systems, having a set of characteristics uniquely defined by space and time scales and by strength of the interactions between them. Some sources define as many as six classifications, while most others confine it to three.

quote:

Originally posted by jbderunz:
Have a look at Reinald von Meurer :â€Buffalo, elephant and Bongo†Safari Press


Many people have been on safari but few have been on safari alone! Dr. Reinald von Meurers's record is unique: He has been on twenty-five self-guided hunts in the Cameroon; he has hunted from Lake Chad to the border of the Congo; and he has gone after elephant, bongo, buffalo, and a host of other animals over a period of nearly two decades. Follow him as he faces bull elephant deep in the rain forest (more than twenty miles by foot to the nearest village); is threatened by a large gorilla; floats for several weeks down a remote river in search of new hunting grounds; bags forest rarities like sitatunga, giant forest hog, and bushpig; hunts for a record-book dwarf buffalo; avoids snakes and stinging honey bees; and in general has the time of his life hunting solo in one of the most remote areas left on this earth. Illustrated with dozens of pictures, this book is an antidote for those tired of reading the usual safari story.
FOR MORE :

Buff, ele & bongo
and click on “ read this excerpt†to read a PDF narration.

JB,

A great book indeed, and a man we should admire!

I hope one day to try out "Chasse Libre" myself.

Hasn't AR's own MLindsay done do it yourself type hunts in Cameroon (arranging everything himself and hunting without a PH)?

Sort of Dave. I know Mike has some very close friends there.

I will add this to my library. I imagine Corbett, Baker, Bell, Blixen, Selous and the like will welcome him into our study.