The Largest Buffalo and Bison Ever Weighed as Much as a Small Car

Buffalo are large, hooved ruminants found in Africa and Asia. The two main buffalo species are the African buffalo (Syncerus caffer) and the Asian water buffalo (Bubalus arnee). Although we have “buffalo” in the U.S., they are actually bison. Some historians believe that the American bison (Bison bison) was called buffalo due to early European explorers. In the 17th century, the French referred to bison as “les boeufs,” meaning oxen. Later, the English pronounced it as “la buff,” which, over the years, gradually morphed into the word “buffalo”. Regardless of naming conventions, all of these animals belong to the Bovidae family, although buffalo and bison are not closely related. Keep reading to discover the largest buffalo, and the largest bison, ever recorded.

What Is the Largest Buffalo? 

Wild Asian water buffalo are the largest buffalo species on average. Males, called bulls, are larger and heavier than females. They typically reach a height of around 5 to 5.5 feet. However, some large individuals can grow much taller. The world’s tallest living water buffalo is King Kong, a domestic water buffalo (Bubalus bubalis) who lives on a farm in Nakhon Ratchasima, Thailand. This massive bovine measures 6 feet 0.8 inches from the hoof to the withers. The heaviest wild water buffalo can reach weights of up to around 2,600 pounds, but on average, they weigh between 660 and 1,200 pounds.

Asian water buffalo also hold the record for the longest horns of any living animal. Their horns typically average around 3.4 feet in length. However, a bull shot in 1955 had horns that were 13 feet 10 inches long, measured from tip to tip along the outside curve and across the bull’s forehead.

In the wild, they live in tropical and subtropical forests in India, Nepal, Bhutan, and Thailand. As their common name indicates, they favor rivers, mudholes, swamps, and other areas near water. There are two subspecies of water buffalo, distinguished by their habitat: the river buffalo and the swamp buffalo. River buffalo are larger and are often used as dairy animals, while swamp buffalo are most often used for farming. As noted above, wild water buffalo are a distinct species from domesticated water buffalo and now live in small, scattered populations throughout Southeast Asia.

The Largest American Buffalo (Bison) Ever Recorded

On average, bison females weigh up to 1,100 pounds, while mature males weigh up to 2,000 pounds. Some sources suggest the largest bison ever recorded was a large bull estimated to have weighed 3,801 pounds. The American Society of Mammalogists cites a record of 3,800 pounds from 1978. Like many records, these statistics are the subject of considerable debate, and this weight significantly exceeds the typical maximum, even for large bulls.

Other sources list the largest bison ever recorded at 2,800 pounds, which can be traced back to a captive bull named Black Dog. In 1907, Black Dog was transferred from the Bronx Zoo to the Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge in Oklahoma to begin bison repopulation efforts on the Great Plains. Black Dog was considered the largest living buffalo in 1916.

Ancient bison (Bison antiquus) were about 25% larger than modern bison, as well as taller and possessing longer horns. Fossils suggest these animals stood around 7.5 feet tall, measured 15 feet long, and had horns spanning about 3 feet. Researchers estimate that these Pleistocene-era bison weighed roughly 3,500 pounds. The fossils are approximately 240,000-220,000 years old, and scientists think they lived until around 10,000 years ago. If prehistoric bison weighed 3,500 pounds, it is improbable that an animal in the modern era outweighed it. So, the largest bison ever recorded was most likely Black Dog at 2,800 pounds.