See a Massive Buffalo Make Like A Child and Play in the Mud Until an Elephant Breaks Up the Fun

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We, as humans, will pay a lot of money to keep up our skincare. And one of the ways that we do that is by paying for mud baths or mud face masks. However, for this massive buffalo in the video posted below, he gets a mud bath completely free. Courtesy of the South African terrain!

Buffalo Sighting in Kruger National Park, South Africa

This next YouTube video posted below takes us to Kruger National Park, South Africa. We see a massive buffalo that is down by the watering hole coming for a drink to hydrate. As watering holes in Africa go, all animals will eventually come to the watering hole. Whether that is for drinking or for cooling off.

We see the buffalo start by taking a long drink of water. Once he is hydrated, it is clear to us that this buffalo was not there for a drink of water. He has the intent to do something else. We see him slowly start to wade through the water so they can get to the middle, where there is a huge patch of mud. 

We want you to take a moment to pause the video at 34 seconds and look at the birds that are on top of this buffalo. While this might seem to be just happenstance, it is not. Birds, very specifically, will sit on buffalos (as well as other large animals) and will pick off parasites. 

Once this buffalo reaches the other side, we see it slowly sit down in a small patch of mud. But he doesn’t stop there. We see this buffalo start to roll around, so he completely covers his body from head to toe with mud. 

He is not done with his mud bath, but at 1:46, we see an enormous elephant appear close by. This buffalo quickly leaps up. He knows his bath is done because this elephant is here. 

Why Do Buffalos Take Mud Baths?

Seeing this buffalo taking a mud bath begs the question, “Why do buffalos take mud baths?” It wasn’t just something this buffalo randomly decided to do this day. He specifically went to this watering hole to take a mud bath.

According to the National Wildlife Federation, “African buffalo use mud baths to help regulate their body temperature and repel parasites and flies.”  This also goes back to the birds that will pick off parasites and tick off buffalos as well. This is the beauty of nature taking care of itself!