The Arna, or Indian Buffalo 



THE ARNA, OR INDIAN BUFFALO 



{Bos \_Bubalus'\ huhalis) 



Native Names. — Arna (bull), Ami (cow), or, more 

 COMMONLY, Arna bhainsa and Jangli bhains {bhains 

 being the name of the domesticated buffalo), 

 Hindustani ; Mang in Bhagalpur ; Mains^ 

 Bengali : Birbiar of the Ho-kols ; Gera erumi 

 OF THE GoNDS ; Ml Harak^ Cingalese ; DAoh^ 

 Assamese ; Siloi of the Kukis ; Gubui^ Rili^ Ziz^ 

 AND Le OF the Nagas ; Misip^ Kachari ; /rof, 

 Manipuri ; Kywaij Burmese ; Pana of the 

 Karens ; Karbo or Karabu^ Malay 



(Plate ii, figs. 5, ^a) 



Those who have seen the domesticated buffalo of 

 Italy, Egypt, and India are acquainted with a degenerate 

 descendant of the magnificent Indian wild buffalo, 

 whose spread of horn exceeds that of any existing 

 member of the Bovida. The wild animal itself is, 

 however, known to few besides sportsmen, since only 

 two examples have been exhibited in the London 

 Zoological Gardens, one of which was lent in 1870, 

 while the second (a cow) was presented by the Maharaja 

 of Bhaonagar in 1893 ; but whether the former was a 

 truly wild animal, the writer has no means of knowing. 



All buffaloes differ from the other members of the 

 genus Bos by the distinctly triangular section of their 

 horns, as well as by the rounded form ot the hinder 

 part of the skull, and likewise by the sparsely haired 

 skin, which may indeed be well-nigh naked in aged 

 individuals. Such points of distinction are here 

 regarded as only of subgeneric value, so that the full 

 name of the Indian species is Bos {Bubalus) bubalis^ 

 but many naturalists regard Bubalus (as also Bison) in 

 the light of a orenus by itself. 



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