African buffalo | |
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An African buffalo at Ngorongoro Conservation Area, Tanzanie. | |
Conservation status
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Scientific classification | |
Kinrick: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Cless: | Mammalia |
Order: | Artiodactyla |
Faimily: | Bovidae |
Subfaimily: | Bovinae |
Genus: | Syncerus Hodgson, 1847 |
Species: | S. caffer |
Binomial name | |
Syncerus caffer (Sparrman, 1779)
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Subspecies | |
S. c. caffer |
The African buffalo or Cape buffalo (Syncerus caffer) is a muckle African bovine.[2] It is no closely relatit tae the slichtly mair muckle wild watter buffalo o Aisie an its ancestry remains unclear. Syncerus caffer caffer, the Cape buffalo, is the teepical subspecies, an the maist muckle ane, foond in Sooth an East Africae. S. c. nanus (African forest buffalo) is the smawest subspecies, common in forest auries o Central an Wast Africae, while S. c. brachyceros is in Wast Africae an S. c. aequinoctialis is in the savannas o Central Africae. The adult buffalo's horns are its chairacteristic featur; thay hae fused bases, fuirmin a conteenous bane shield athort the tap o the heid referred tae as a "boss". Thay are widely regairdit as vera dangerous ainimals, as thay gore an kill ower 200 fowk every year.