Buffalo at Chada Katavi

By Frank Japhet, Scout - Chada Katavi

The cape buffalo are highly gregarious animals, living in large herds up to 4000 in Katavi National Park.

Buffalo drink daily because they are not able to conserve water like some animals, so it is difficult for a large herd to find enough to drink in the dry season.  That is why they split up sometimes.

Due to this dry season, the herds are also breaking up because of scarcity of food.  They must travel a lot to make sure they don’t deplete the grass in one area.

They are grazers on the taller grasses, but sometimes they can browse on other plants, but this is rare.

The smaller units that break from the herds are led by a matriarch cow who leads her clan members who are usually closely related.  In large herds as well, there are older cows who want to be in the front of the herd.  These cows are called Pathfinders.

Other buffalo can be sedentary, not moving great distances because they are not in large herds.  The most sedentary buffalo are older bulls who are solitary or in small bachelor groups. 

The distance travelled by buffalo in a day ranges from 5 to 18 kms as they commute between pastures and water.  In Katavi, even in dry season, there are some areas where the herds are still large.  Rungwa river, Lukima river, and other areas where there is natural spring water are examples.