Dwarf Forest Buffalo | Online Record Book Preview

Syncerus caffer nanus

Bufalo enano (Sp), Waldbüffel, Rotbüffel (G), Buffle nain (F). Also called red forest buffalo.

DESCRIPTION Shoulder height 40-45 inches (100-115 cm). Weight 550-700 lbs (250-320 kg).

The dwarf forest buffalo is the smallest, most lightly built African buffalo. Most are reddish or light tan in color, but old bulls may be dark brown. The face is narrower and straighter than in savanna buffalos, and the ears have a heavy fringe of hairs. The small horns are set apart without frontal bosses and curve outward, backward and slightly upward. They do not sweep down as they do in most savanna races, thus the ears are not hidden from view.

DISTRIBUTION The high coastal rain forest of West Africa, which includes the southwestern edge of Guinea; all of Sierra Leone except the northeast; all of Liberia; southern Ivory Coast; southwestern Ghana; and the southern tip of Nigeria. Also in the high rain forest of Central Africa, which includes southern Cameroon, the far southwestern part of the Central African Republic; all of Rio Muni, Gabon, and Congo (B); far northwestern Angola; and Congo (K) except the northern edge and Katanga Province.