The African buffalo is one of the most successful grazers in Africa. The buffalo inhabits swamps and floodplains as well as the grasslands and forests of the major mountains of Africa. It can be found from the highest mountains to sea level areas, and it tends to prefer habitat with dense cover such as reeds and thickets. Herd of buffalo have also been found in open woodland and grassland.

Other than the human, the African buffalo has no real natural predators as this animal is able to easily defend itself using the buffalo’s sheer size and power. Lions, crocodiles, leopards and hyena are all amongst those animals that prey on it although they are usually only successful in catching the buffalo in large numbers.

It has a very unpredictable nature which, along with the size of the buffalo, makes it a severe threat to humans. There are numerous attacks on humans every year and the buffalo is thought to be one of the most dangerous animals in Africa behind the hippo and the crocodile. Because of this, the African buffalo has not been domesticated unlike the water buffalo in Asia.