The water buffalo, or Indian buffalo, Bubalus bubalis, is found in S Asia. For many centuries it has been domesticated as a draft animal, but wild forms still exist in Borneo and herds descended from domesticated animals live in a wild state elsewhere.
Water buffalo live in swampy areas and near rivers, where they wallow in the mud.
Wild water buffalo are extremely fierce and have been known to kill fully grown tigers. The domestic forms are somewhat more docile. Their diet consists chiefly of grass. The anoa, Anoa depressicornus, also called dwarf buffalo or wood buffalo, is the smallest of the buffalo, standing only 40 in. Its slightly larger relative, the tamarou, Anoa mindorensis, is found in the Mindoro region of the Philippines.