Kid Territory:Critters: A Buffalo With Personality

Forest Buffalo Chubasco

Zoo name: Chubasco (chew-BOS-co)
Species: Forest or Congo Buffalo

His story

Is there ONE person in your family, or class, or club, who is especially rowdy? Well, this often happens in animal groups, too. The next time you visit the San Diego Zoo, look for the mighty Chubasco, our male forest buffalo.

Don’t be fooled just because he may be sitting peacefully with the females, chewing his cud. Look again. Notice what’s in his enclosure: a BIG T-shaped log. From each side of the log hangs a BIG Boomer Ball ™ and a BIG plastic drum. These are his enrichment toys. Now look for the smallish animal with blunt horns. (Forest buffalo are the smallest of the buffalo species. Chubasco only weighs about 800 pounds, or 360 kilograms.) Put two and two together—there’s a reason the keepers named him Chubasco, a Spanish word that describes a really violent storm!

Mr. Personality

Chubasco came from a zoo in his native South Africa, and soon made his presence known to all. When it was time to eat, he’d bang on his barrel, another enrichment item. This not only got his keeper’s attention; we could hear the noise across the Zoo! Chubasco also learned to wait for the keepers walking along the road behind his enclosure, so he could bang on the metal door and make the keepers jump. He likes to make noise and if he gets a reaction, he’ll keep it up. The keepers soon nicknamed Chubasco Mr. Personality.

A busy buffalo

Some of Chubasco’s adventures include:

1. Pushing a 50-pound (23-kilogram) salt block through the bottom of a cement feeder. We replaced the feeder with one made of solid concrete.
2. Breaking several expensive Boomer Balls, which are made of very thick, hard plastic.
3. Knocking one ball so hard it broke off the chain. The new chain is now reinforced with a swivel that won’t bend.
4. Pushing another ball into his enclosure’s gunnite wall, making a big hole. This only took him five minutes.
5. Knocking down a tree in his enclosure.

The whole enclosure area is now designed for Chubasco. His barn is reinforced with steel pipes. His off-exhibit area is reinforced with planks, made from recycled plastic. There are now reinforced latches on the gates. Can you guess which animal in the Zoo is responsible for the most enclosure repairs? And why he has such blunt horns?

Aggressive by nature

In Chubasco’s defense, there IS a reason that forest buffalo can be aggressive. In their African rain forest homes, these animals live among thick vegetation. So, it’s natural to protectively charge out towards something heard but unseen. Even though Chubasco is aggressive towards humans and inanimate objects, he does have a more gentle side around other animals. Recently we moved some of the female forest buffalo from the Ituri Forest herd to Chubasco’s Horn & Hoof Mesa herd. Ituri’s male buffalo, Stan, is admiringly nicknamed Stan the Man for his calm attitude and many offspring. Chubasco has never fathered any calves. When it came time for mixing up the buffalo herds, trying for more babies, whom do you think we moved? It was much easier to transport all those females than ONE Chubasco!

When the new females and youngsters moved into Chubasco’s enclosure, he was the perfect host. He’s very gentle with the females and their youngsters, who are Stan’s offspring. But he still likes to see what damage he can do to his enclosure!

Where you can see him

At the San Diego Zoo.