Water buffalo

Bubalus (scientific name: Bubalus) is a genus of animals under the family Bovidae, order Artiodactyla, class Mammalia. Water buffaloes have thick skin and poorly developed sweat glands, necessitating immersion in water to cool down, hence their name. They are robust in build, sparsely covered with hair, mostly gray-black in color; they possess large, flattened horns that curve backward; their hooves are large, solid, resistant to soaking, with flexible knee and fetlock joints enabling them to walk freely in muddy conditions. Water buffaloes have relatively small ear flaps, elongated narrow heads and foreheads, forward-pointing hair along the dorsal midline, and backs sloping downward posteriorly. There are four species in total. Worldwide, there are only about 4,000 wild water buffaloes remaining, which are severely threatened by genetic contamination from domesticated water buffaloes. The Mindoro buffalo is found only on Mindoro Island in the Philippines, with approximately 200 individuals left. Both the lowland anoa and mountain anoa inhabit the Sulawesi archipelago of Indonesia and are also critically endangered. These three species are smaller in size and were previously classified under the genus Anoa. However, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has merged both genera into the genus Bubalus, noting that this classification remains controversial.