 An American bison mother and calf Photo courtesy Ecofriend.org.
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KAREN HOCHMAN is Editorial Director of THE NIBBLE.
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June 2006
Last Updated August 2010
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Product Reviews / Main Nibbles / Meat & Poultry
Buffalo Vs Bison: The Difference
Page 3: The American Bison
This is Page 3 of a three-page article on the American bison. Click on the black links below to visit other pages.
Final Tally: American Bison Vs. European/Asian & African Buffalo
Of the three animals highlighted in this article—bison, Asian Water Buffalo and African Buffalo—only the Asian Water Buffalo has been domesticated.
However, bison have adapted to ranching, and while they are wild animals, are not considered extremely dangerous. The African buffalo, on the other hand, are one of the “top five” killer animals in Africa. They are known to gore and kill several people a year.
Here’s how to tell the American bison apart from buffalo:
| American Bison |
Asian Water Buffalo* |
The American Bison. Don’t call me a buffalo! Photo by Robin Hindle | SXC.
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The European Water Buffalo, descended from the Asian Water Buffalo. Photo by Gabor Palla | SXC. |
Head: Large and wooly
Horns:Short and curving up
Back: Humped
Wild Habitat: North America
Known For: Meat
Scientific Classification:
Kingdom:Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Artiodactyla
Family: Bovidae
Subfamily: Bovinae
Genus: Bison
Species: B. bison
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Head: Small and smooth, look like cattle
Horns: Long and curved (“longhorn cattle horns”)
Back: Normal bovine
Wild Habitat: Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Bhutan and Thailand; has been domesticated in Europe, the U.S. and elsewhere
Known For: Dairy
Scientific Classification:
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Artiodactyla
Family: Bovidae
Subfamily: Bovinae
Genus: Bubalus
Species: B. bubalis
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| Zebu or Indicus, Brahmin or Humped Cattle |
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African Buffalo or Cape Buffalo |
Neither bison nor buffalo but a close relative of our everyday dairy and beef cattle. European cattle are descended from the Eurasian subspecies; zebu are descended from the Indian subspecies. |
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The Cape (African) Buffalo looks similar to the European/Asian species (see above), but has much longer horns. Photo by Stephan Ehrbar | Wikipedia Commons. |
Head: Small and smooth bovine (cattle) face
Horns: Short and straight
Back: Normal bovine
Wild Habitat: Asia and Africa; zebu originated in the Indian subcontinent and were imported to Africa, Brazil and other
Scientific Classification:
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Subphylum: Vertebrata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Artiodactyla
Family: Bovidae
Subfamily: Bovinae
Genus: Bos
Species: Bos primigenius
Subspecies: B. p. indicus
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Head: Small and smooth, looks like steer or moose
Horns: Long and curved (“longhorn cattle horns”)
Back: Normal bovine
Wild Habitat: Botswana, Ethiopia, Kenya, Mozambique, Namibia, Somalia, South Africa, Sudan, Tanzania, Zambia, Zimbabwe
Scientific Classification:
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Subphylum: Vertebrata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Artiodactyla
Family: Bovidae
Subfamily: Bovinae
Genus: Syncerus
Species: Caffer
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