The domestic or water buffalo (Bubalus bubalis) belong to the family bovidae, sub-family bovinae, genus bubalis and species arni or wild Indian buffalo. Buffalo are believed to have been domesticated around 5000 years ago in the Indus Valley. The water buffalo can mainly be classified as River (Chromosome no., 2n=50) and swamp type (Chromosome no., 2n=48). The domestication of swamp buffalo took place independently in China about 1000 years later. The movement of buffalo to other countries both east and westwards has occurred from these two countries. Some of the well-known dairy breeds of buffalo found in India and Pakistan are Murrah, Nili-Ravi, Kundi, Surti, Jaffarabadi, Bhadawari, Mehsana, Godawari and Pandharpuri. Despite potential advantages, little attention has been paid to buffalo improvement programs. The buffalo is known as water buffalo. There are number of buffalo breeds in India but true to type and descriptive breeds are Murrah, Jaffrabadi, Niliravi and Mehsana. The swamp buffalo are concentrated mainly in south east China, Myanmar, Malaysia, Laos, Cambodia, Thailand, Indonesia, Philippine, and Vietnam. The skin colour is gray, dark gray to state blue. White animals occur frequently. Animals have swept back horns and are similar in appearance across the countries except the size. The horns grow laterally and horizontally in young animals and curve round in a semi circle as the animals gets older. Animals are massively built, heavy bodied with large belly. The forehead is flat; orbits are prominent with a short face and wide muzzle. They weight from 300 to 400 kg when fully grown. Swamp buffalo are primarily used as work animal in paddy cultivation, for pulling carts and hauling timber in jungles. Milk yield is 1-2 kg per day.
