Wild Water Buffalo

Whether Sri Lanka has any truly wild buffalo, or only feral descendants of domestic stock, has been debated. After watching living buffalo in Yala National Park and analysing skull measurements, Groves and Jayawardene (2009) concluded that an indigenous wild buffalo does exist, Bubalus arnee migona, and urged steps to protect its genetic integrity.

A later study by University of Colombo researchers took skulls from Kumana, Minneriya and Maduru Oya and museum collections. It found that the Kumana and Minneriya skulls were swamp buffalo, while the museum skulls grouped with migona, supporting migona as a distinct subspecies (Pathiranage et al. 2023, reported by the Faculty of Science, University of Colombo). Nationally Vulnerable (Sri Lanka National Red List 2012).