"The water buffalo (Bubalus bubalis) or domestic water buffalo is a large bovid originating in the Indian subcontinent, Southeast Asia, and China. Today, it is also found in Europe, Australia, North America, South America and some African countries. The wild water buffalo (Bubalus arnee) native to Southeast Asia is considered a different species, but most likely represents the ancestor of the domestic water buffalo.
Two extant types of water buffalo are recognized, based on morphological and behavioural criteria – the river buffalo of the Indian subcontinent and further west to the Balkans, Egypt, and Italy, and the swamp buffalo, found from Assam in the west through Southeast Asia to the Yangtze valley of China in the east. The origins of the water buffalo types are debated, although results of a phylogenetic study indicate that the swamp-type may have originated in China and was domesticated about 4,000 years ago, while the river-type may have originated in India and was domesticated about 5,000 years ago. After the domestication of the water buffalo in Southeast Asia, the swamp buffalo dispersed up to the Yangtze River valley between 3,000 and 7,000 years ago." - (en.wikipedia.org 09.03.2020)
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