Wetlands Water buffaloes are well adapted to swamps and to areas subject to flooding. They are at home in the marshes of southern Iraq and the Amazon, the tidal plains near Darwin Australia, the Pontine Marshes in south central Italy, the Orinoco Basin of Venezuela and of course in India and the Near and Far East. Buffalo productivity outstrips that of cattle, with males reaching 400 kg in 30 months on a diet of native grasses 82 . The advantage of water buffaloes over Holstein, Brown Swiss, and Criollo cattle was demonstrated in a test at Delta Amacuro, Venezuela, when the cattle developed serious foot rot in the wet conditions of the Orinoco Delta and had to be withdrawn from the test. The area of Venezuela is flooded 6 months of the year and creates constant problems for cattle, yet the buffalo seems to adapt well 83 .
High humidities seem to affect buffaloes less than cattle.
In fact, if shade or wallows are available, buffaloes may be superior to cattle in humid areas. In southern Brazil, trials comparing buffalo and cattle on subtropical riverine plains have favored the buffalo also. This work is being carried out on native pastures, mostly in the State of San Paulo.