Bison or Buffalo?

As a diehard wildlife nerd, I have a few pet peeves when it comes to common mistakes in animal identification.

Firstly, I totally understand lots of people don't obsess over animals, cool facts about them, and how to protect them. Most people don't even know the names of any birds or plants they see every day! But it's alright. Let's just change that a little bit :)

So, what's the difference between a bison and a buffalo?

Above is a photo of a bison. We do not have any wild buffalos in the Americas. Buffalos live in Africa and Asia. We do have two subspecies of bison in North America!

In fact, the woodland bison subspecies (Bison bison athabascae) are the largest extant terrestrial species in North America! Meaning of all the species alive at the moment, they are the largest by weight. The males average at a whopping 1800 lbs (815 kg)! That's equivalent to 720 ducks. Or 360 chihuahuas. Or 210 gallons of orange juice. Depending on how you like to visualize things. Plains bison (Bison bison bison) come in at an average of 1600 lbs (726 kg).

So what's a buffalo then?

Now is it starting to make sense? These are the classic wild water buffalo (Bubalus arnee) you picture in the swamps of India. Domesticated water buffalo (Bubalus bubalis) are used across Asia for everything from tilling rice fields and carrying supplies to providing milk and meat for sustenance.

Then we must jump down to Africa to cover the cape buffalo (Syncerus caffer).

Can you tell the difference? See how the cape buffalo's horns curl up? And they're more round in the middle and heavier built?

If not, it's okay! Can you tell the difference between a bison and buffalo though?

I hope so :)

Well I'm not going to bombard you with any more animal facts. If you learned something, please spread the word! If you start calling these beautiful creatures by their correct names, please reach out and I'll send you a free sticker.

Knowledge is power! Let's protect the things we love. And call them by their proper names :)