water buffalo: see buffalo.

cape buffalo, species of short-haired African ungulate, or hoofed mammal, Syncerus caffer. The cape, or African, buffalo may reach 7 ft (2.1 m) in length, weigh more than 1,500 lb (670 kg), and reach a height of 5 ft (1.5 m) at the shoulder. Coat color and horn shape seem to vary with the animal's habitat, which ranges from high grass savanna to equatorial forest and extends from Lake Chad south to the Cape of Good Hope and from Senegal, on the Atlantic coast, to the Horn of Africa, on the Indian Ocean. Cape buffalo gather in herds of up to a thousand animals; they graze and drink in the early morning and evening and rest during the heat of midday and at night. They are aggressive and powerfully built, and can easily fend off the attack of a lion. They mate in January or February; after a gestation period of 11 months the cow gives birth to a single calf. Its life span is about 16 years. Cape buffalo are classified in the phylum Chordata, subphylum Vertebrata, class Mammalia, order Artiodactyla, family Bovidae.

buffalo soldiers, name given to the African-American U.S. army regiments commissioned by Congress to patrol the American West after the Civil War. Consisting of two infantry and two cavalry regiments, they were the first such units chartered in peacetime. The troops, which formed one fifth of the army's forces in the West, served as guards for pioneer wagon trains and helped in the development of Western towns. Still known as buffalo soldiers, the all-black regiments distinguished themselves in the Spanish-American War and World War II. They continued in army service until the U.S. armed forces were integrated in 1952. Largely unsung until the late 20th cent., they were memorialized in a 1994 bronze monument at Fort Leavenworth, Kans.

buffalo grass, low perennial grass (Buchloe dactyloides) of the plains regions, one of the most important range grasses. Its dense matted growth is valuable also in erosion control. Buffalo grass usually grows together with the grama, or mesquite, grasses (genus Bouteloua), especially blue grama and side-oats grama. These taller grasses have the same distribution as buffalo grass, but none of them produce a continuous sod, as prairie grasses do. Buffalo grass is classified in the division Magnoliophyta, class Liliopsida, order Cyperales, family Gramineae.

buffalo fish: see sucker.

buffalo clover: see lupine.

buffalo bur: see nightshade.

buffalo berry: see oleaster.

buffalo, name commonly applied to the American bison but correctly restricted to certain related African and Asian mammals of the cattle family. The water buffalo, or Indian buffalo, Bubalus bubalis, is found in S Asia. It is a large, extremely strong, dark gray animal, standing nearly 6 ft (180 cm) at the shoulder and weighing up to 2,000 lb (900 kg). Its widely spread horns curve out and back in a semicircle and may reach a length of 6 ft (180 cm). 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. They are used throughout S Asia to pull plows and carts; they are of little importance as dairy animals, as their milk is scant. 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. (100 cm) high at the shoulder; it is found in Sulawesi. Its slightly larger relative, the tamarou, Anoa mindorensis, is found in the Mindoro region of the Philippines. Both are forest dwellers. The large, fierce cape buffalo is found in Africa. Buffalo are classified in the phylum Chordata, subphylum Vertebrata, class Mammalia, order Artiodactyla, family Bovidae.

Wood Buffalo National Park, 17,300 sq mi (44,807 sq km), in NE Alta., Canada, extending into the Northwest Territories; est. 1922 to protect the only remaining herd of buffalo. It lies between Lake Athabasca and Great Slave Lake and is crossed by the Peace River. A vast, unfenced region of forests, plains, and lakes, it is the largest game preserve in North America, containing buffalo, bear, beaver, caribou, moose, and varied waterfowl, including whooping cranes, which nest there.

Buffalo, University of: see New York, State Univ. of.

Buffalo National River, Ark.: see National Parks and Monuments (table).

Buffalo Bill, 1846-1917, American plainsman, scout, and showman, b. near Davenport, Iowa. His real name was William Frederick Cody. His family moved (1854) to Kansas, and after the death of his father (1857) he set out to earn the family living, working for supply trains and a freighting company. In 1859 he went to the Colorado gold fields and he claimed, apparently falsely, to have ridden for the Pony Express in 1860. His adventures on the Western frontier as an army scout and later as a buffalo hunter for railroad construction camps on the Great Plains were the basis for the stories later told about him.

On his first visit to the East in 1872, Ned Buntline persuaded him to appear on the New York stage, and, except for a brief period of scouting against the Sioux and Cheyenne in 1876, he was from that time on connected with show business. In 1883 he organized Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show and toured with it for many years throughout the United States and Europe. Wyoming granted him a stock ranch, on which the town of Cody was laid out. He died in Denver and was buried on Lookout Mt. near Golden, Colo. The exploits attributed to him in the dime novels of Buntline and Prentice Ingraham are only slightly more imaginative than his own autobiography (1920).

Buffalo, city (1990 pop. 328,123), seat of Erie co., W N.Y., on Lake Erie and the Niagara and Buffalo rivers; inc. 1832. With more than 37 mi (60 km) of waterfront, it is a major commercial and industrial port and railroad hub. Buffalo is a diversified manufacturing and financial center, with a large health-care industry.

In 1803 a village was laid out on the site by Joseph Ellicott for the Holland Land Company. Almost destroyed by fire (1813) in the War of 1812, it recovered slowly until the opening (1825) of the Erie Canal, after which it became a major Great Lakes port. The city developed as a flour-milling center and later thrived on steel milling, automobile and locomotive manufacturing, and other heavy industries. These all fell into decline, however, and by the 1980s Buffalo had lost its traditional economic base. The area has since benefited from the free trade agreement (1988) between the United States and Canada, attracting Canadian investment in real estate and manufacturing, but the city's population has continued the decline that began after World War II. By 2003 the decline led to a city financial crisis, and the state established an oversight authority to restore the city to fiscal health.

Buffalo's educational institutions include the State Univ. of New York (the city's largest employer), with campuses at Buffalo and suburban Amherst; Canisius College; and D'Youville College. The Albright-Knox Art Gallery and Buffalo Museum of Science are well known. Notable buildings include the city hall (1932) and the Guaranty Building (1895-96; formerly the Prudential Building), designed by Louis Sullivan. Buffalo has a music hall and a philharmonic orchestra and a noted park system created by F. L. Olmsted. The Buffalo Bills play football in Rich Stadium (in nearby Orchard Park), and Memorial Auditorium is home to hockey's Sabres. The Peace Bridge (1927) connects Buffalo with Fort Erie, Ont.

Grover Cleveland became mayor of Buffalo in 1882. Here in 1901, at the Pan-American Exposition, President McKinley was assassinated; Theodore Roosevelt took the presidential oath in Buffalo. The McKinley monument and the Theodore Roosevelt Inaugural National Historic Site (see National Parks and Monuments (table)) commemorate the two events. Millard Fillmore's home was in Buffalo.

African buffalo: see cape buffalo.

or Indian buffalo

Any of three subspecies of oxlike bovid (species Bubalus bubalis). Two have been domesticated in Asia since the earliest recorded history. The animal is named for its ability to work on waterlogged land and in humid climates. The largest breeds stand 5–6 ft (1.5–1.8 m), is up to 9 ft (2.8 m) long, and may weigh over 2,000 lb (900 kg). The dull black or dark gray body has little hair. The horns spread outward and upward, measuring up to 7 ft (2 m) across. One subspecies, the swamp buffalo, is the principal draft animal of southern China and South and Southeast Asia. Another, the river buffalo, is used for dairy and meat production and draft work in southern and South Asia and Egypt. The third subspecies is the wild water buffalo, of which only a few dozen herds remain. It is larger than domestic buffaloes and is sometimes referred to as a separate species (B. arnee).

Learn more about water buffalo with a free trial on Britannica.com.

Nickname given to members of African American cavalry regiments of the U.S. Army who served in the western U.S. (1867–96). An 1866 law authorized the army to form cavalry and infantry regiments of African American men under the command of white officers; the result was the 9th and 10th cavalries and the 38th through 41st infantries. The primary mission of the cavalry regiments was to control Indians on the western frontier (the nickname “buffalo” was given by the Indians). The soldiers took part in almost 200 engagements. Noted for their courage and discipline, they had the army's lowest desertion and court-martial rates. One of the 10th Cavalry's officers was John Pershing, whose nickname “Black Jack” reflected his advocacy on behalf of African American troops.

Learn more about buffalo soldier with a free trial on Britannica.com.

Any member of the insect family Simuliidae, comprising 300 species of small, humpbacked dipterans found worldwide. Usually black or dark gray, the blackfly has short mouthparts adapted for sucking blood. The females bite and are sometimes abundant enough to kill chickens and even cattle. Some species carry worms capable of causing human disease, including river blindness. In subarctic regions blackflies may be so numerous that human habitation is impossible.

Learn more about blackfly with a free trial on Britannica.com.

Park, western Canada. Situated between Athabasca and Great Slave lakes, it was established in 1922; it occupies an area of 17,300 sq mi (44,807 sq km). The world's largest park, it is a vast region of forests and plains, crossed by the Peace River and dotted with lakes. The habitat of the largest remaining herd of wood buffalo (bison) on the North American continent, as well as of bear, caribou, moose, and beaver, it also provides nesting grounds for the endangered whooping crane.

Learn more about Wood Buffalo National Park with a free trial on Britannica.com.

Massive, black, horned buffalo (Syncerus caffer), formerly found throughout sub-Saharan Africa but now greatly reduced in number by disease and hunting. It is a gregarious animal of open or scrub-covered plains and open forests. When wounded, it is regarded as one of the most dangerous animals. It stands up to 5 ft (1.5 m) tall at the shoulder, and bulls can weigh almost a ton (about 900 kg). Its heavy horns typically curve downward, then up and inward. A smaller subspecies is found in dense West African forests.

Learn more about Cape buffalo with a free trial on Britannica.com.

known as Buffalo Bill

(born Feb. 26, 1846, Scott county, Iowa, U.S.—died Jan. 10, 1917, Denver, Colo.) U.S. buffalo hunter, army scout, and Indian fighter. He became a rider for the Pony Express and later served in the American Civil War. In 1867–68 he hunted buffalo to feed construction crews for the Union Pacific Railroad; he became known as Buffalo Bill after slaughtering 4,280 head of buffalo in eight months. He was a scout for the U.S. 5th Cavalry (1868–72, 1876) as it subdued Indian resistance. His exploits, including the scalping of the Cheyenne warrior Yellow Hair in 1876, were chronicled by reporters and novelists, who made him a folk hero. He began acting in dramas about the West, and in 1883 he organized his first Wild West Show, which included stars such as Annie Oakley and Sitting Bull. The show toured in the U.S. and abroad to wide acclaim.

Learn more about Cody, William F(rederick) with a free trial on Britannica.com.

City (pop., 2000: 292,648), western New York, U.S. Located at the northeastern point of Lake Erie on the Niagara River, it is the terminus of the New York State Barge Canal. Settled by American Indians in 1780, the site was laid out as a town at the beginning of the 19th century. It was a military post in the War of 1812 and was burned by the British. Rebuilt in 1814–15, it became the western terminus of the Erie Canal, which brought an economic boom to the community. A major port on the St. Lawrence Seaway and the main U.S. gateway to Ontario's Toronto-Hamilton industrial region, it processes much of U.S.-Canadian trade. It is also an educational and medical research centre.

Learn more about Buffalo with a free trial on Britannica.com.