Commercial buffalo breeding: ‘It’s not just for the rich’.

Commercial buffalo breeding: ‘It’s not just for the rich’.Over the years, buffalo breeding has evolved into a sound industry that has contributed to the conservation of the species.The Cape buffalo (Syncerus caffer caffer), a subspecies found in Southern and East Africa, is the largest of the African buffalo species. The African forest buffalo (Syncerus caffer nanus), common in the forest areas of Central and West Africa, is the smallest. Syncerus caffer brachyceros occurs in West Africa and Syncerus caffer aequinoctialis is found on the Central African savannas.Breeding ‘disease-free’ buffalo from ‘disease-positive’ parent stock is a relatively recent breakthrough in Southern Africa. Dr John Condy, a veterinarian at the then Rhodesian veterinary department, deserves credit for this pioneering work. In 1985, he built up a herd of ‘disease-free’ buffalo by catching and rearing calves before they were old enough to become carriers of the foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) virus. This far-sighted approach laid the foundation of commercial buffalo breeding in South Africa,