Rooted in the hills: The Toda buffaloes are well adapted to the Nilgiris. They thrive on coarse pasturages and tolerate the cold rain and hail of the southwesterly monsoon and the heavy ground frosts of the northwesterly monsoon. The Sheep Breeding Research Station at Sandynallah has bought 30 buffaloes from the Todas for breeding.
| Photo Credit: M. Sathyamoorthy
Over the last three decades, the population of the Toda buffalo, an indigenous species of water buffalo linked to the culture of the Toda tribals, has declined by more than 90%. In a new initiative, the Sheep Breeding Research Station at Sandynallah in the Nilgiris has begun a captive breeding programme to help the population re-establish itself in the hills, even while trying to understand its genetic make-up.
According to officials, the buffalo population ranged from 15,000 to 20,000 across the Nilgiris just a few decades ago. But N. Prema, Head of the Ooty Station at the Sheep Breeding Research Station at Sandynallah, points out that a 2023 enumeration of the buffaloes across all Toda hamlets revealed that less than 1,000 animals were left. “Out of the 1,000, there was a considerable number cross-bred with other cattle,” she says.
Gradual disappearance
The culture and tradition of the Todas has been inextricably linked to their buffaloes for millennia. However, a combination of factors — the destruction of the Nilgiris grasslands that had served as the traditional pastures of the buffaloes, high rates of calf mortality, increased instances of predation by wildlife, and the gradual change in the livelihoods and culture of the Todas themselves — has led to the gradual disappearance of the buffaloes from the landscape, Ms. Prema says.
Writing about the buffalo in the Encyclopedia of the Nilgiri Hills, anthropologist Paul Hockings says, “No more than a fifth of the district’s domestic bovines are buffaloes (Bubalus bubalis): the livestock census of 1982 recorded 57,199 head of cattle, but only 13,655 buffaloes.”
“Today, …many of the Nilgiris buffaloes are desi, i.e. the nondescript, breedless improved animals that are tended by villagers all over India,” he adds, hinting that the dilution of the Toda buffaloes’ genetic make-up was well under way as early as in the 1980s.
“Finely adapted to the Nilgiri Mountains, thriving on their coarse pasturages and tolerating, without shelter, the cold rain and hail of the southwesterly monsoon and the heavy ground frosts of the northwesterly monsoon, the Toda buffalo physically is the most impressive animal. It has long been both admired and feared by visitors to the Nilgiris. This is because it is robustly built, fast on its hooves, and capable of great ferocity (unlike the characteristically slow-moving and docile plains buffalo),” he notes.
“When the population has come down by so much in just a few decades, there is now a likelihood that the remaining population too could be lost without immediate conservation plans,” Ms. Prema says. As the first step, the Sheep Breeding Research Station has purchased 30 buffaloes from the Todas, and is trying to breed more buffaloes. “While the Toda buffaloes are semi-wild and produce only an average of 3.5 litres to 4 litres of milk a day, their milk is high in fat content. The breed itself is highly resistant to conditions like mastitis. In fact, there are no known records of a Toda buffalo ever suffering from mastitis,” says Ms. Prema.
Funded by Rashtriya Gokul Mission
She says that with the participation of the tribal community in the breeding of the Toda buffalo, an initiative funded by the Rashtriya Gokul Mission of the Tamil Nadu Livestock Development Agency, efforts are being made to increase the population of the Toda buffalo. Studies are being conducted to understand the breed’s resilience to mastitis. The milk of the buffalo is being studied to find out its nutritional value.
Another count planned next year
As a further step towards increasing awareness among the Todas of the importance of conserving the buffalo, the Sheep Breeding Research Station and the Tamil Nadu Veterinary and Animal Sciences University (TANUVAS) have been conducting awareness campaigns among the communities and rewarding the best buffalo breeders. “We also had an exhibition in February this year in Udhagamandalam. It showcased value-added products made from the buffalo milk, including panneer, butter, ghee, and flavoured buttermilk,” Ms. Prema says.
Officials say they have planned another enumeration of the buffaloes in 2026.
Published – April 15, 2025 10:36 pm IST