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Savanna buffalo and Oxpecker

Syncerus caffer caffer

Photo by Dan Doucette
Published on Project Noah
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-1.59707, 35.3845

Field Notes

Description:

The African buffalo is a very robust species. It is up to 1.7 metres high, 3.4 metres long. Savannah type buffaloes weigh 500–900 kg, with males, normally larger than females, reaching the upper weight range.

Habitat:

savanna

Notes:

I spotted this on safari in Masai Mara National Park.
Oxpecker/mammal interactions are the subject of some debate and ongoing research. They were originally thought to be an example of mutualism, but recent evidence suggests that oxpeckers may be parasites instead. Oxpeckers do eat ticks, but often the ticks that have already fed on the ungulate host and there has been no proven statistically significant link between oxpecker presence and reduced ectoparasite load

Species ID Suggestions

Comments (10)
Dan Doucette
Thanks Luis, Scott and emj! This was just one half of a pair of buffalo. I've added the rest of the photos I had. Even though I was in a safari jeep, it was pretty spooky how close we got to these. I'm not that zoomed in! Some in the jeep were really scared, but they didn't bother us, just gave us a nasty stare.
Dan Doucette
Thanks Sachin. I've added this to the mission Karen.
Dan Doucette
That sounds like a great idea Karen, thanks for finding this spotting to add and alerting me to the mission. I will add this spotting as soon as I get to a decent computer. I've been way out of the Noah loop as I've been in China for the last month and will be in SE Asia for the next 3 months. Many of the browsers here are outdated and don't show Noah properly or let me add spottings. Hopefully this will change in the next few days as I get to a more backpacker oriented city. Kunming in Yunnan province in southern China is my next stop.
KarenL
Hi Dan, I've created a new mission for Symbiotic relationships & would appreciate it if you could add this spotting. http://www.projectnoah.org/missions/7987627

Spotted for Missions

Mission
2011 Best Wildlife Photo
Mission
Birds of the World

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Photographed
PublishedApril 11, 2011

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