The Toda buffalo is a rare hill breed of the Nilgiris in Tamil Nadu, named after the Toda people who herd it (NBAGR database). It has a fawn to ash-grey coat and wide, crescent-shaped horns, and it lives on hill grazing. NBAGR registers it as one of Tamil Nadu's two buffalo breeds (breed register).
How to recognise it
- Colour: calves are fawn at birth and turn ash-grey at about 2 months; adults are mostly fawn or ash-grey (NBAGR database).
- Horns: long (about 62 cm), thick at the base and set wide apart. They grow outwards, slightly down and then up, with the tips curving in to make a crescent or half-moon (NBAGR database).
- Markings: a strip of dense hair along the back from the neck to the root of the tail, and two chevron (V-shaped) marks on the neck, one around the jowl and one in front of the brisket (NBAGR database).
- Body: a long body with a deep, broad chest, short strong legs, a heavy head and a thick coat of hair (TNAU); the udder is small (ICAR-CIRB).
- Size: cows stand about 122 cm at the shoulder, and NBAGR gives an average adult weight of about 380 kg (NBAGR database).
What it is good for
- Rich milk, in small amounts. NBAGR records about 500 kg of milk (close to 500 litres) in a lactation, with about 8.2% fat (NBAGR database). On grazing alone, studies found about 2.5 kg a day on average and up to nearly 7 kg at the peak (ICAR-CIRB).
- Work. NBAGR's record lists draught work among its uses (NBAGR database).
- Made for the hills. It does well in the heavy rain and humidity of the Nilgiris (NBAGR database) and lives on grazing, with no bought feed (ICAR-CIRB).
- Calving. The first calf comes at about 4 years, then one about every 16 months (NBAGR database); most calves are born between July and October (ICAR-CIRB).
Where it is mainly found
The Toda buffalo lives only in the Nilgiris district, on the high grasslands around the Toda hamlets, called munds (NBAGR database, TANUVAS study). The Toda people own most of the herds, and Badaga and Kota families keep a few (ICAR-CIRB). The breed is rare: the 2013 breed survey counted about 3,000 (NBAGR database), and TANUVAS researchers report that shrinking grazing land and changing ways of life are reducing its numbers (TANUVAS study). TANUVAS keeps a conservation herd at its Sheep Breeding Research Station in Sandynallah, Nilgiris (TANUVAS).
Looking for Toda buffalo?
Search “Toda” in the Kattutharai app to find Toda buffalo for sale near you, or see all buffalo for sale. The seller names the breed and Kattutharai does not check it, so look at the animal yourself before you pay.
Rearing tips
- Grazing herds. Toda buffaloes graze freely on natural pasture and get little or no concentrate (TANUVAS study). At night they are kept in round, roofless pens built of wooden stakes, mud and stone (ICAR-CIRB).
- Calves. Young calves start grazing near the hamlet at about 3 weeks of age, apart from the adult herd (NBAGR database). In a TANUVAS study in Toda hamlets, calves weighed about 25 kg at birth and about 65 kg at 3 months (TANUVAS study).
- Half-wild animals. TANUVAS describes Toda buffaloes as close to wild buffaloes in nature. Adult bulls live wild in the forest, so many herds have no breeding bull of their own (TANUVAS). Handle them calmly, and keep strangers away from the herd.
- A breed for cool hills. It is suited to cool, humid, high country (ICAR-CIRB).
- Health. TANUVAS has trained young Toda herders in deworming, vaccination and first aid for these buffaloes (TANUVAS). Vaccinate on the calendar in buffalo health, with your vet.
Buying tips
- Few are for sale. Most Toda buffaloes stay with Toda families, and the breed is rare. Ask your veterinary hospital in the Nilgiris about genuine animals.
- Check the signs. A true Toda is fawn or ash-grey, with wide crescent horns, the hair strip along the back and two chevron marks on the neck (NBAGR database). A black buffalo with short, curled horns is a Murrah or a Murrah cross, not a Toda.
- The breed name in an ad is the seller's word, and Kattutharai does not check it. Crosses are common, so see the animal and its herd yourself, and follow buying a buffalo.
- Moving it. A move is hard on a half-wild hill buffalo, and any journey needs a vet's certificate that it is fit to travel (AWBI).
Frequently asked questions
Why is it called Toda?
It is named after its herders, the Toda people of the Nilgiris (NBAGR database), who have lived with these buffaloes for centuries (ICAR-CIRB).
How much milk does a Toda buffalo give?
Little but rich: about 2.5 kg a day on grazing alone and about 500 kg in a lactation, with about 8.2% fat (ICAR-CIRB, NBAGR database).
Is the Toda buffalo endangered?
ICAR-CIRB lists it as threatened because of its low numbers (ICAR-CIRB). About 3,000 were counted in 2013 (NBAGR database), and TANUVAS runs a conservation programme for the breed (TANUVAS).
Next
Tamil Nadu's other registered buffalo breed is the Bargur buffalo of Erode's Bargur hills. See all breeds, and how buffaloes are kept, in Buffalo farming: breeds, buying and care in South India, or compare with Murrah. To find buffaloes near you, browse buffaloes for sale.