Conservation status: Least Concern (Population decreasing)
Trophic level: Herbivorous
Mass: 660 – 2,000 lbs (Adult)
Lifespan: 15-25 years
Scientific name: Syncerus caffer
Speed: 37 miles per hour
The African buffalo is a large sub-Saharan African bovine. There are five subspecies that are recognized as being valid. Syncerus caffer caffer, the Cape buffalo, is the nominotypical subspecies, and the largest one, found in Southern Africa and East Africa.
The African buffalo is one of the most successful grazers in Africa. It lives in savannas, swamps and floodplains, as well as mopane grasslands, and the forests of the major mountains of Africa. This buffalo prefers a habitat with dense cover, such as reeds and thickets, but can also be found in open woodland.
Grass forms the bulk of the buffalo's diet. Without fresh green feed, buffaloes deteriorate rapidly. They devote a large portion of their time to grazing and feeding. After grazing on grass, just like cows, they spend time chewing their cud (or bolus) to extract even more nutrients from their food.
Just a fun little exercise I did back when All Todays content was more common to see. Though the way I went about this was to restore the modern animals more like how I restored dinosaurs at the time, with similar muscles and contours. It was also an opportunity for me to put some fun color references from dinosaurs (and other creatures) from media onto them as well (but not all are references)
East African Mammals: Wildlife Portraits by Jonathan Kingdon. From Terra: The Member's Magazine of The Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County. Vol 21, No. 4. Spring 1983.