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Bubalus depressicornis

(Asiatic Buffaloes)

Overview

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Endangered

Threat status

Interesting Facts

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Common Names

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Click on the language to view common names.

Common Names in English:

Anoa, Asiatic Buffaloes, lowland anoa

Common Names in French:

Anoa des plaines

Common Names in Spanish:

Anoa de ilanura

Description

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Physical Description

Size/Age/Growth

Body Length: 180 cm / 6 ft . Shoulder Height: 85 cm / 2.8 ft. Tail Length: 40 cm / 16 in. Weight: Up to 300 kg / 660 lb .

Habitat

undisturbed, moist, dense forest .

Ecology: There is very little is known about the ecology and life history of the Anoas (Burton et al. 2005). Overall population densities were estimated to be 0.9 and 1.1 anoas/km in Tanjung Peropa and Tanjung Amolengo Wildlife Reserves, southeast Sulawesi, respectively (Mustari 2003). This species is found in both primary and secondary lowland forest , as well as swamp and mangrove forest (A. Priyono and G. Semiadi pers. comm. 2006, Mustari 2003). Riverine and lowland forests were preferred by anoa compared to rocky-cliffs forest in Tanjung Peropa Wildlife Reserve due to the availability of water sources, known food plants and fruit-bearing trees (Mustari 2003). In the past the species was reportedly common along coasts. Lowland Anoa are also found at high elevations in mountainous areas. Like other wild buffalo, Anoas wallow and bathe in pools of water and/or mud . It is probable that mineral springs or licks are also required, although Anoa are reported to drink seawater, which might fulfil their mineral needs in areas without licks or springs.

The species is solitary and is a browser , feeding on vegetation (Whitten et al. 1987, Foead 1992). The typical life span in captivity is reported to be 20 to 30 years, with age at sexual maturity at 2 to 3 years old (in captivity), with typically one offspring per year (NRC, 1983; Jahja, 1987), though in wild conditions this may be less.[1].

List of Habitats :

Biology

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Diet

grass , herbs, leaves, and marsh and aquatic plants

Reproduction

Females give birth to a single calf after a 10 month gestation .

Behavior

Anoas live in pairs, and spend their days foraging for fallen fruits, leaves, grasses, and aquatic plants .

Taxonomy

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Notes

Name Status: Accepted Name .

Last scrutiny: 22-Apr-2004

There is still debate about whether Lowland Anoa (Bubalus depressicornis) and Mountain Anoa (Bubalus quarlesi) are distinct species (Burton et al. 2005). Two phenotypes of anoa, characterized by body size, hair texture , horn shape , and presumably body colours have been used by certain authors to justify the existence of two species. However, transitory morphs suggest that the real relationships are more complex , and hardly understood. Sulawesi is a rather small territory, so the speciation patterns of a large mammal pose a riddle to systematists. An enormous underlying variability (outward appearance , anatomy , chromosomes, proteins, DNA) has hitherto precluded a convincing classification, or has questioned the validity of an approach to group anoa diversity into clear, reproducible types . Pattern-based classifications of zoo and museum specimens, most of which are devoid of reliable information as to their origin within Sulawesi, have always suffered from the later discovery of phenotypes with new combinations of supposedly diagnostic species characters.

The "transitory populations" probably do not represent "hybrids" of two species, but various degrees of genetic introgression, or even primary clines of diverging evolutionary lineages, and they could perhaps differ in different regions of Sulawesi, depending on the degree of gene flow , and the characters affected. At the present stage of insight, every regional anoa population should be considered worthy of conservation . The management units should at least be based on known origins from within Sulawesi, rather than on taxonomic schemes, which in the past have often proved incomplete .

The English common names of the two species relate to a still uncertain altitudinal separation (Groves 1969), with the large form (Lowland Anoa) inhabiting low-lying areas and the smaller form (Mountain Anoa) living at higher elevations (Burton et al. 2005).[1].

Similar Species

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Members of the genus Bubalus

ZipcodeZoo has pages for 6 species and subspecies in this genus:

B. arnee (Asian Buffalo) · B. bubalis (Domestic Water Buffalo) · B. depressicornis (Asiatic Buffaloes) · B. mephistopheles (Short-Horned Water Buffalo) · B. mindorensis (Mindoro Dwarf Buffalo) · B. quarlesi (Mountain Anoa)

More Info

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Further Reading

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Notes

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Contributors

Data Sources

Accessed through GBIF Data Portal November 26, 2007:

Identifiers

Footnotes

  1. Semiadi, G., Mannullang, B., Burton, J., Schreiber, A., Mustari, A.H. & the IUCN SSC Asian Wild Cattle Specialist Group 2008. Bubalus depressicornis. In: IUCN 2011. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2011.2. <www.iucnredlist.org>. Downloaded on 31 January 2012. [back]
Last Revised: 4/17/2012