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, so they need to submerge in water to cool down, hence their name. They are robust in build with sparse hair, mostly gray-black in color; they have large, flat horns that curve backward; broad hooves with solid texture, resistant to soaking, and flexible knee and fetlock joints enabling them to walk freely in muddy conditions. Water buffaloes have relatively small ear flaps, narrow and long heads and foreheads, forward-pointing mid-dorsal hair, and backs sloping downward posteriorly. There are four species in total. Worldwide, there are only about 4,000 wild water buffaloes remaining, and they are severely threatened by genetic pollution from domesticated water buffaloes. The Mindoro buffalo is found only on Mindoro Island in the Philippines, with around 200 individuals left; the mountain anoa and lowland anoa both inhabit the Sulawesi islands of Indonesia and are also critically rare. These three species are smaller in size and were once classified separately in 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.