Buffalo Newsletter

Abstract

Buffaloes represent an alternative domesticated ruminant for use in agriculture in the third millennium. There are about130 to 150 million domesticated buffaloes which are widely distributed throughout the worldand they exist as two main types, namely river and swamp buffalo. River buffaloes are large and noted for their milk production but they are also used as draught animals; they are found mainly in parts of Europe, the Middle East, the Indian sub-continent, the Caribbean, South America, Nor th America and Canada. Swamp buffaloes are smaller; they are poor milk producers and are used almost entirely for drought. They are found mainly in China, South East Asia and the South-west Pacific region.