Water Buffalo
The Water Buffalo is a large bovid originating in south Asia, south east Asia and China. Today, it is also found in Europe, Australia and some American countries.
Two types of Water Buffalo are recognized: the River Buffalo of south Asia and further west to the Balkans, Egypt and Italy and the Swamp Buffalo found from Assam in the west through south east Asia to the Yangtze valley of China in the east.
The origins of the domestic Water Buffalo types are debated, although studies indicate that the swamp type may have originated in China and was domesticated about 4,000 years ago while the river type may have originated from India and was domesticated about 5,000 years ago.
European buffalo are all of the river type and considered to be of the same breed named Mediterranean buffalo. In Italy the Mediterranean type was particularly selected and is called Mediterranean Italian to distinguish it from other European breeds which differ genetically. Mediterranean buffalos are also found in Romania, Bulgaria, Greece, Albania, Kosovo and Republic of Macedonia and a few hundred in the UK, Germany, the Netherlands, Switzerland and Hungary.
In the early 1950s northern Greece alone was home to over 70,000 Water Buffalos. Their numbers begin to diminish rapidly with the import of enhanced cattle stock, the contraction of the buffalo habitat as the wetlands were dredged and the loss of almost half the agricultural population between 1961 and 1991 as farmers abandoned the countryside to move to the cities or emigrate abroad.
It is not exactly clear when and how the turnaround started. The buffalo ranchers were undoubtedly helped when the European Commission granted the Water Buffalo the status of a livestock animal in 1997, a decision that made breeders eligible for EU agricultural subsidies. Another factor was likely the establishment of a buffalo ranchers collective that would advocate for the adoption of common production and hygienic standards and lobby for the interests of its members.
Lake Kerkini in northern Greece is now home to over 2500 Water Buffalos, a noteworthy population when one considers that the entire population of the species in the whole of Greece in 1984 was just under 400 animals.
The Water Buffalo has begun to recover and is once again bred and raised for milk and meat. The free-range grass-grazing animals, for all intents and purposes organically raised, yield meat rich in heart-healthy omega-3 fatty acids and with more protein but with 50% less cholesterol and an eighth of the saturated fat of beef. Demand far outstrips supply.
Date: 12th May 2015
Location: Lake Kerkini, Central Macedonia, Greece
Two types of Water Buffalo are recognized: the River Buffalo of south Asia and further west to the Balkans, Egypt and Italy and the Swamp Buffalo found from Assam in the west through south east Asia to the Yangtze valley of China in the east.
The origins of the domestic Water Buffalo types are debated, although studies indicate that the swamp type may have originated in China and was domesticated about 4,000 years ago while the river type may have originated from India and was domesticated about 5,000 years ago.
European buffalo are all of the river type and considered to be of the same breed named Mediterranean buffalo. In Italy the Mediterranean type was particularly selected and is called Mediterranean Italian to distinguish it from other European breeds which differ genetically. Mediterranean buffalos are also found in Romania, Bulgaria, Greece, Albania, Kosovo and Republic of Macedonia and a few hundred in the UK, Germany, the Netherlands, Switzerland and Hungary.
In the early 1950s northern Greece alone was home to over 70,000 Water Buffalos. Their numbers begin to diminish rapidly with the import of enhanced cattle stock, the contraction of the buffalo habitat as the wetlands were dredged and the loss of almost half the agricultural population between 1961 and 1991 as farmers abandoned the countryside to move to the cities or emigrate abroad.
It is not exactly clear when and how the turnaround started. The buffalo ranchers were undoubtedly helped when the European Commission granted the Water Buffalo the status of a livestock animal in 1997, a decision that made breeders eligible for EU agricultural subsidies. Another factor was likely the establishment of a buffalo ranchers collective that would advocate for the adoption of common production and hygienic standards and lobby for the interests of its members.
Lake Kerkini in northern Greece is now home to over 2500 Water Buffalos, a noteworthy population when one considers that the entire population of the species in the whole of Greece in 1984 was just under 400 animals.
The Water Buffalo has begun to recover and is once again bred and raised for milk and meat. The free-range grass-grazing animals, for all intents and purposes organically raised, yield meat rich in heart-healthy omega-3 fatty acids and with more protein but with 50% less cholesterol and an eighth of the saturated fat of beef. Demand far outstrips supply.
Date: 12th May 2015
Location: Lake Kerkini, Central Macedonia, Greece
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Also in: Central Macedonia
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