Cape Buffalo are unpredictable and considered very dangerous, hence they have not been domesticated. They are very herd-oriented and when attacked, they will close ranks with youngsters inside a formidable defensive wall of muscle and horns - and a bad temper to go along with it. When a herd-member is captured, they will launch a rescue attempt and mob their attackers.
They can weigh one ton, standing up to 5 1/2' at the shoulder. The males have massive horns with broad bases for fighting - the females have smaller horns. The thicker the base of the horns, the older the buffalo is - this one is not an old male.
Here's a female to compare him with.
We regularly checked waterholes and wallows on our drives, and found this old fellow who had received a nasty injury to his horns, in a battle with another male, no doubt. He was covered in dried mud and wasn't perturbed when we stopped nearby - I hope the injury wasn't life-threatening.
Oxpeckers (birds) live strictly on large mammals who welcome them because they remove parasites from their skin. They clean out their eyes, inside their ears, under their tails - wherever there are ticks and bugs. This one made me chuckle because the buffalo was totally oblivious to the funny picture the two of them created.
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