Young African buffalo (Syncerus caffer) cows drinking at dusk. The African, or Cape, buffalo is a large herbivore, which mainly eats grass, although its diet also includes leaves and shoots. It lives near forests and water, retreating into them during the hottest parts of the day. Buffaloes are social animals, living in vast herds, which may number up to several thousand individuals. A fully-grown adult can weigh 1000 kilograms and makes a formidable opponent, even for a group of hunting lions. It inhabits all of sub-Saharan Africa, except the southernmost regions. Photographed in Kwa-Zulu Natal, South Africa.