CAPE BUFFALO 229 



horns of the calf grow straight out like those of the 

 young Wildebeest, then downwards and finally outwards. 



1 append three photographs of a young African Buffalo 

 at the ages of 8 and 14 months. Horns of the male 

 very broad at the base, massive and corrugated, curved 

 outwards and downwards, then upwards and inwards. 

 Length about 2i feet along the curve for bulls, and about 



2 feet for cows. Record 41 inches ; greatest width, 

 outside 52 J, inches. 



At present the Buffalo is only found in the bushy and 

 forest-clad districts of Albany, Alexandria, Bathurst and 

 Uitenhage in Cape Colony, Zululand, South-West Africa, 

 Rhodesia and Portuguese East Africa. There are still a 

 few in the Sabi Game Eeserves, and there is a large herd 

 on Marianna Island in the Inkomati River near Delagoa 

 Bay. It prefers thorny bush-clad well-watered country, 

 where there are open glades. Although solitary bulls are 

 not uncommon, the Buffalo usually congregates in herds 

 of a dozen to as many as several hundred individuals. It 

 is usually a dangerous animal to wound, and many lives 

 have been lost in hunting Buffalo. 



It is seldom found far from water, drinking at sunrise, 

 and retiring to the bush or a reed thicket to sleep during 

 the heat of the day. It drinks again at sunset, and loves 

 to wallow in the mud. One calf is born at a time, during 

 February or March, which remains hidden until it is 

 about a fortnight old, after which it is strong enough 

 to run with the herd. 



