Cape Buffalo are the largest and most formidable of Africa's wild bovids and a familiar sight to visitors of African parks and reserves. The Cape Buffalo is the only member of the buffalo and cattle tribe that occurs naturally in Africa.
African Buffalo are hardy critters, able to live and flourish in many habitats, from semi-arid bushland to coastal savannas to lowland rainforests, as long as they’re close to a water source.
When the buffalo aren’t fighting off the occasional lion, they’re eating grass—and lots of it. It forms the bulk of their diet. Like cows, buffalo chew cud to further extract nutrients.
Buffalo are considered one of the " big five " a term grouping them with leopards, rhinoceroses, elephants, and lions as the most dangerous animals to hunt in Africa.
Buffalo and bison aren't the same animals. How the misnomer came to be is murky, but it’s thought early American settlers called bison “buffalo” because they look similar—large, brown, hulking beasts that graze—but the two animals are actually from different genuses within the bovine subfamily. A quick ID tool is looking for a beard: Bison have them and buffalo don’t. National Geographic
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