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The Thai Journal of Veterinary Medicine

Abstract

The buffalo (Bubalus bvbalis) be- longs to the bovidae family, and has been domesticated in India, Malasia, Thailand and Egypt for a long time. It occupies an important place amongst the domestic animals of the tropics as a provider of dairy produce, beef and draught power. Its greastest asset as a domestic animal is its ability to subsist on the coarsest fodder and to convert it most efficiently into animal produce. In distribution the domestic buffalo ranges widely from Italy in the west through the Balkans, Egypt and the Near East to India, Pakistan, Ceylon and Burma. The region where it is most numerous, and thence to the Far East, where it is found in South China, Indonesia, Thailand, The Philippines and The Islands of the Pacific, Australia and Trinidad. There are between 110 - 120 million buffaloes in the world as against about 1000 million cattle. Asia has most of the buffaloes at some 82.5 million. There are two types of domestic buffalo. The swamp buffalo found primarily in China and south east Asia, is a hardy animal used mainly for labour purposes. The river type are mostly in India, they are greater valued as dairy and work animal. The Murrah breed of buffalo produces 3,000 to 5,000 lb. of milk during a lectation period of nine to ten mouths.

DOI

10.56808/2985-1130.3433

First Page

363

Last Page

366

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