Buffaloes in Mercosur

Introduction

The Southern Common Market (MERCOSUR) is a regional integration process initially established by Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay. Bolivia and Venezuela joined later. The Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela is suspended from all rights and obligations inherent to its status as a State Party to MERCOSUR, in accordance with the provisions of the second paragraph of Article 5 of the Ushuaia Protocol. (Mercosur, 2025). (Figure 1)

MERCOSUR is an open and dynamic process. Since its creation, its main objective has been to foster a common space to generate trade and investment opportuni ties through the competitive integration of national economies into the international market. As a result, it has established multiple agreements with countries or groups of countries, granting them, in some cases, the status of Associate States (as is the case with the South American countries). These countries participate in the bloc's activities and meetings and enjoy trade preferences with the State Parties. MERCOSUR has also signed trade, political, and cooperation agreements with a diverse number of nations and organizations on five continents. Its official working languages are Spanish and Portuguese. Since 2006, Guaraní has also been incorporated as one of the bloc's languages.

Argentina

The first buffalo arrived in Argentina at the beginning of the 20th century, coming from Romania to the province of Entre Ríos, where attempts were made to crossbreed them with cattle for milk production. When this experiment failed, the buffalo practically disappeared, except for a few that were released for big game hunting.

After the unsuccessful attempts to crossbreed buffa loes with cattle, due to chromosomal incompatibility (buffaloes have 50 chromosomes and cattle 60), being ignored, several years had passed before small-scale imports resumed in the early 1980s, from Italy, Brazil, and Paraguay. The imported specimens belonged to the Mediterranean, Murrah, and Jaffarabadi breeds. In 1983, the Argentine Buffalo Breeders Association (AACB) was created, and in 1985, the first purebred herds were registered, opening the first genealogical registry book.

In 2004, the Association for Buffalo Production and Development in Argentina (ABUAR) was founded in the city of Corrientes, Argentina.

The 2nd Buffalo Symposium of the Americas was held in Corrientes in 2004, and the 9th World Buffalo Con gress was held in Buenos Aires and Corrientes in 2010. Argentina currently has 307,000 buffalo (Figure 2).

Figure 2. Buffalo in Argentina. (Photo: Radio del Guaran).

Figure 3. Buffaloes in Brazil (Photo: Gabriel Jabur)

Brasil

In Brazil, buffalo were introduced in various locations throughout the country beginning in the late 19th century, primarily in the northern region. Initially, this was more out of curiosity than for their actual zoot echnical value.

Meanwhile, their great adaptability to a wide variety of environments, combined with their high fertility and productive longevity, led to significant development in the herds. Of the mere 200 animals introduced into the country, the herd numbered 495,000 in 1980. The average annual growth rate between 1961 and 1980 was approximately 10.86%. The cattle herd grew by 3.8% in the same period.

From a qualitative perspective, some imports of ani mals with proven dairy productivity from Italy stood out, generally by immigrants seeking to produce dairy products manufactured in their country of origin. Im ports from India occurred in 1962 (imports were later banned for health reasons). These animals incorporated Murrah and Jaffarabadi breeds, which were of great importance to Brazilian buffalo farming. They were the f irst officially recognized as "pure" of these breeds and became the basis for crossbreeding by absorption. The last import of live specimens was eight animals from Italy in 1989. Towards the end of the 20th centu ry, buffalo semen of Italian and Bulgarian origin was imported.

The Brazilian Buffalo Breeders Association (ABCB), founded in 1981, had more than 80 members through out Brazil in its early stages. Currently, this association reports that the Brazilian buffalo herd has reached around 3,500,000 head, representing 1.5% of the total cattle herd. Thirty% of the properties are used for dairy production (Figure 3).

Paraguay

The first buffalo arrived in Paraguay in the late 1940s. Manuel Ferreira, the pioneer and promoter of the Nel ore cattle breed, was on one of his trips to the national Nelore cattle exhibition in Uberaba, Brazil, when he acquired a herd of 40 buffalo, marking the beginning of this species in Paraguay. The intention was not to pursue buffalo breeding as an economic option, but rather as a curiosity to accompany cattle breeding. The sporadic entry of buffaloes across the dry border with Brazil by Brazilian settlers in the area adjacent to the state of Mato Grosso was also a significant factor in the contribution of buffaloes to the country. The first significant buffalo farm was established by Eitimios Loannidis, who acquired 200 buffaloes from the state of Mato Grosso in 1988 and began breeding them in Colonia Yguazu, near the city of Este in Paraguay. He subsequently increased his herd with small purchases from different parts of the country.

The 10th Symposium on Buffaloes of the Americas and Europe was held in Asunción in 2022.

Currently, Paraguay has a population of 15,952 buffaloes and 288 producers in 261 farms distributed throughout the country, according to the National Animal Quality and Health Service (SENACSA, 2024). (Figure 4)

Figure 4. Buffaloes in Paraguay. (Photo: ABC Rural. Eng. Rubén Bruyn).

Uruguay

Buffaloes were introduced to Uruguay by Lorenzo Balerio in 1987, acquired from Fazenda Panorama in Porto Alegre, Brazil. There were 100 females, and he bred them for a silvopastoral production system on his ranch located in Rivera, in the north of the country. Buffaloes are raised in the department of Artigas. The Artigas buffalo farm specializes in the genetic improve ment of the species.

There are also buffalo farms in the departments of Cerro Largo and Florida.

Currently, there are approximately 1,000 buffalo heads in Uruguay. (Figure 5)

Figure 5. Buffaloes in Uruguay. (Photo: Artigas Noticias)

Bolivia

The first buffalo arrived in Bolivia in 1974, thanks to a European Union project to support productive develop ment for settlers located in the community of Paraíso, Puerto Villarroel Municipality, José Carrasco Province, Cochabamba Department, through the National Insti tute of Colonization (INC). These 200 imported buffalo were Mediterranean breed, originating from Caserta, Italy, and bred for food security (meat and milk pro duction) and for animal traction.

This donation, after four years of monitoring, was un successful, as most farmers gave up on the buffalo because their handling was very different compared to cattle. Some specimens became wild. Later in 1978, the INC donated 80 female buffaloes and five males to the Faculty of Agricultural and Livestock Sciences of the Universidad Mayor de San Simón. The buffaloes were raised for conservation, preservation, and small scale milk and meat production until 2013.

Figure 6. Buffaloes in Bolivia. (Photo: Engormix.com / Buffalo Management).

Research was also conducted on animal health and animal traction. Of the producers who originally re ceived the buffaloes, one persevered and currently has 80 Mediterranean and Murrah buffaloes for family production of meat, milk, and cheese.

The 11th Buffalo Symposium of the Americas and Europe was held in Santa Cruz de la Sierra in 2025. Bolivia currently has an estimated buffalo herd of 60,000 head (Figure 6).

Venezuela

The water buffalo was introduced to Venezuela 96 years ago (1920), but it wasn't until 1967 that it began to gain importance as a species of zootechnical interest in animal production.

The first domestic buffaloes brought to Venezuela arrived in 1922 from Trinidad & Tobago, during the government of General Juan Vicente Gómez Chacón (Ferrer et al. 1973; Piedrahita, M. and Hahn, M. 1994). These animals were kept on the El Limón ranch, in the Corozal sector, on the way to Ocumare de la Costa, Maracay, Aragua State. The herd consisted of 20 females and 2 males (Ferrer et al. 1973; Ferrer, 1984).

Upon the death of dictator Juan Vicente Gómez Chacón, this herd was affected by popular discontent with an unwelcome government. However, some animals were saved and became the property of the González Gorrondona family, near Cagua, Aragua State. The herd was poorly managed and eventually extinct (Ferrer et al. 1973; Ferrer, 1984; Solórzano, 1996).

Following the death of General Gómez (1935), the few buffalo that had entered the country practically dis appeared.

From 1960 to 2015, hundreds of water and swamp buffalo were imported from Trinidad and Tobago, Australia, Italy, Bulgaria, and Colombia (Reggeti, 2007)

Buffalo growth has been steady, demonstrating their adaptability and potential in diverse Venezuelan eco systems. Initially used as a "colonizer" of marginal areas, this concept has changed as improved management conditions led to improvements in productivity.

The 6th World Buffalo Congress was held in Maracaibo in 2001, and the 13th World Buffalo Congress was held in Caracas in 2023.

According to the Buffalo Breeding Association, Ven ezuela has 3,700,00 buffalo heads, constituting the largest herd of the entire American continent, so it is the country that has imported the largest number of animals of the highest genetic quality (Figure 7).

Figure 7. Buffaloes in Venezuela. (Photo: The Venezuelan water buffalo (Venezuelan Annals of Nutrition).

Conclusions

The total number of buffalo in MERCOSUR currently stands at 3,883,952. This would constitute the largest buffalo population in the Americas. However, if Venezuela is included, the figure would rise to 7,583,952.

The excellent growth of the buffalo population in Mercosur is due to the extraordinary outreach work of buffalo associations and to publications by researchers from American universities that highlight the advan tages of buffalo production, including their longevity, adaptability to different types of feed, and the number of offspring they produce during their productive life. This is further underscored by the advantages of their meat, milk, and labor compared to traditional cattle farming in the Americas.

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