Buffaloes in Mexico

Abstract

The water buffalo (Bubalus bubalis) was introduced in Mexico in the mid-1980s through imports from Guatemala. Currently, the buffalo population is estimated at 50,000 head distributed in 29 of the 32 states that make up the national territory. The states with the largest buffalo population are Campeche, Tabasco, Oaxaca and Veracruz. There are currently 200 buffalo farmers across the country. If the current buffalo population in Mexico were projected taking into consideration an annual organic growth of 13.1%, the buffalo population would grow to about 171,233 in 10 years.

Past

There are indications that in the 1980s, buffalo were imported from Guatemala to Mexico, which were taken to the coast of the state of Jalisco and the mountains of the state of Zacatecas, but there are no records because they were introduced as cattle. They were small batches and there was no history of their presence in Mexico, so it is assumed that they were all slaughtered at some point.

In the same years, Mr Anthony Leonards imported Carabao buffalo into the United States of America from the island of Guam (a US colony in the western Pacific). He also tried to import a batch of buffaloes of the Bufalypso breed from Trinidad and Tobago, but the government of his country prohibited their importation since the buffaloes showed the presence of the Bluetongue virus in blood tests. For this reason, the importer negotiated to leave them in a quarantine station in Belize, so that the ship would not return to Trinidad and Tobago. The buffalo remained in Belize for 9 years.

Subsequently, the Mexican animal health authorities granted permits, so that this batch of buffalo in Belize could transit through the country to reach the United States; however, the necessary permits were not obtained from the US authorities to import them.

For this reason, Leonards requested the help of the Maitret family from Mexico to transport them through their properties in the states of Veracruz and Chiapas. It took six years to convince the Mexican authorities that the strain of Bluetongue virus carried by buffaloes was asymptomatic for sheep in the US. During that period Leonards decided to sell his farms located in the states of Arkansas and Missouri and transported the 648 buffalo that were there, to Mexico, to the state of Chiapas.

In other words, the buffalo that came to Mexico are descendants of those that came to the US from the islands of Guam and Trinidad and Tobago; but they are also descendants of two Mediterranean buffalo sires that were brought from Italy to the state of Florida.

Leonards subsequently imported doses of semen from Murrah and Jafarabadi breeds from Brazil, although the latter's semen was lost due to lack of care in US farms. Of all this, only verbal memory remains since there are no records that certify it.

Between 1991 and 1992, the Maitret family imported into Mexico a buffalo herd of 468 buffalo made up of bulls, females and their calves from the US, which was cross-bred made up of a racial mixture of Carabao, Bufalypso, Murrah and Mediterranean.

Eventually, in 1993, the Mexican authorities granted permits to import 2,562 Bufalypso buffaloes from Belize; whose original herd came from Trinidad and Tobago. The animals were located in the state of Chiapas.

For the first ten years, the Maitret family dedicated themselves to the raising of buffalo. On their farms in Chiapas, the buffalo gradually displaced the cattle. The females were not sold and with the males, they slowly opened markets for the commercialization of the meat. The size of the herd went from 3,030 heads imported from the US and Belize to more than 6,000 animals. But unfortunately, milk production was completely neglected.

Present

In 2006, the Mexican Association of Buffalo Breeders (AMEXBU) was founded in the city of Campeche, Free and Sovereign State of Campeche, under the presidency of Mr Ismael Coronel. The aforementioned association currently has 200 buffalo producers.

In 2017, the IX Symposium on Buffaloes of the Americas and Europe was held in Campeche with the participation of producers, technicians and researchers from 15 countries, from America, Europe and Asia.

According to data from the AMEXBU, the buffalo population in Mexico is currently 50,000 heads with a presence in 29 out of the 32 Mexican states. The greatest growth has been registered in the Mexican southeast, in states such as Campeche, Tabasco, Oaxaca and Veracruz and recently in Nayarit, Jalisco and Aguascalientes.

Most of the Mexican buffalo population is found in the tropics and subtropics in the south of the country (Veracruz, Tabasco, Campeche, Chiapas), with almost permanent average temperatures of 34 to 36°C and rainfall of 1,800 to 2,000 mm. annual. In this region (in the natural field) an average daily gain of 600 grams in live weight is achieved, reaching 450 kilos at 28 months of age. In addition, an average production of 5-6 litres of milk per day is obtained (Zava, 2017).

The Mexican company "Búfalos de México" has several years of experience both in the breeding and reproduction of buffalo, as well as in the marketing of meat and dairy products. Their products have penetrated significantly in the national market due to their high quality. Among its clients, there are gastronomic companies and hotel chains, including those distinguished in gourmet products.

Buffalo meat products include American cuts, dry sausages (salamines) and fresh sausages (chorizos). Among buffalo dairy products, fresh and matured cheeses such as mozzarella, fresco, manchego, asiago, taleggio, crescenza, arglotino, provolone, portsalud and parmesan should be mentioned, as well as yoghurt, dulce de leche and ice cream. The current demand for buffalo milk, meat and buffalo products has been growing steadily, but growth is limited on the supply side.

It is also worth mentioning the action carried out by the AMEXBU promoting the breeding of buffaloes to women dedicated to field activities under the "Buffalo Woman” project. This Program is for sharecropping and training in the production of dairy and meat products. The pregnant buffaloes are property of AMEXBU, but the calves that are born within a period of three years or more, as established in the agreement they sign, are distributed in equal parts within the associates and the lot that was given to them will be returned, so that this program can be launched in other municipalities of the same state or other states (Sanchez, 2021).

The training for producers and technicians began in 2022 when the first "Diploma in Buffalo Production" was issued, organized by the School of Permanent and Lifelong Education, of the Olmec University of the State of Tabasco and sponsored by AMEXBU and ABUAR.

Future

The possible improvements to the buffalo production systems go beyond the technical-productive aspects since market conditions must also be considered and the corresponding sanitary and safety standards included, highlighting buffalo products’ qualities. These actions could be accompanied by dissemination campaigns so that consumers know the peculiarities of the products and by-products of this species.

To promote buffalo products acceptance, the academic sector must broaden and deepen its research on buffalo breeding, management and use. Both basic and experimental information is required on the productive potential of the species, as well as the development of technologies to increase the productivity of farms, from a sustainable development perspective. In addition, more efficient schemes of organization and access to markets are needed that allow producers to generate higher incomes and favour the regional development of tropical areas that allow it (Mendoza et al. 2019).

Conclusions

If we take as a reference the population of buffalo estimated by AMEXBU at 50,000 heads for the year 2022, and we consider the figure of 13.1% annual population growth of buffalo in Argentina for 10 years (Crudeli et al. 2011) and extrapolate it to Mexico, a buffalo population of 171,233 heads would be reached in this country in the year 2032. Therefore, the buffalo culture in Mexico points to a very promising future.