Buffalo - Syncerus caffer

This bulky animal is one of the most dangerous mammals to be found anywhere. Large herds of buffalo occur on Chief's Island in the Moremi and along the Chobe river near Kasane. the bufffalo on the Chobe river live under constant stress with the lions stalking and hunting them on a regular basis. In the Okavango Detla one should be cautious of buffalo as they can be very dangerous. Avoid dense bush, thickets and small islands as a lonely old bull could be in hiding and might object to your intrusion.

Weighing about 700 kg on average, with much larger individuals reported, the horn span of some mature bulls is more than a metre in width. It is said that more big game hunters have been killed by the cape buffalo than by any other African animal.
Cape buffalo prefer areas of open pasture, close to jungle and swampy ground where they can wallow. Other than man, they have few natural predators and are capable of defending themselves against (and sometimes killing) lions, who will attack only old, sick, or immature buffaloes. The leopard is a threat only to newborn calves.
All attempts to turn the cape buffalo into a "useful" animal by crossbreeding it with domestic cattle have so far proved futile. Excessive hunting has reduced wild populations, and much of the water buffalo's habitat has been converted to agricultural use.