I was surprised to find in the RSA that mounts of elephant and rhino (maybe hippo too) are for the most part fiberglass replicas. They take the dimensions and / or use the actual horn / tusk.

How long has this been going on?

Kensco,

From what I understand, the replicas of Rhino and Hippo's look BETTER than actual mounts. Tougher to cover the stiching on an animal with no hair eh! A lot of guys get the Rhino replica after a dart hunt.

JohnTheGreek

The ones I saw in Pretoria (elephant and rhino) looked absolutely great.

To your knowledge do they ever do that with buffalo as well? I would think not.

These replicas you talk about have been around several years, but, the quality has made a huge step forward in the last year or two. They will get better and better just as the fish have done over the last five years.
Its much easier to have one of these compared to having the cape of one of these beasts tanned and shipped, plus the ease of the mount.
It does take a real artist with a airbrush to make a great mount.