Those tentative first moments of life never cease to inspire awe and this miraculous moment shows well the miracle of life.
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Brett and his fellow travelers had enjoyed a day of extraordinary viewing. They had been watching a pride of 12 lions and were heading back to the camp when they came across a large herd of buffalo, less than a kilometre away from the lions.
Pregnant buffalo goes into labour
“We were watching them for a few minutes, when one of the people with us noticed the one cow was about to give birth.”
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She was indeed giving birth, with the tiny head of the buffalo calf visible, together with its tiny front legs and hooves.
African buffaloes usually give birth in the rainy season as this maximises the offspring’s chance of survival. These strong mothers carry the fetus for a little longer than a human, with their gestation period being 11.5 months.
Newborn emerges in miraculous moment
Says Brett: “It seems like she held off pushing the calf out for a while until she was comfortable with us around.”
However, after a few minutes, the newborn emerged; perfectly formed and brand new! “The whole birth took around 15 to 20 minutes, and she did it all alone.”
During an animal birth, the mother and infant are vulnerable to the attack of predators, so the actual birthing process is usually quite fast.
With the new calf lying on the ground, the mother tenderly approached it. All the while, oxpeckers continued to line up on her back, oblivious to the sacred moment.
Brett spoke of how the herd members came up to the calf in turn, inspecting it, before walking away – offering the mother and her calf little protection.
However, the mother was completely attentive. This was her little one and she gave it her full attention.
“It was also amazing to see how attentive the cow was,” says Brett.
However, for this mother buffalo, it wasn’t enough to just showed her baby with wet-nosed kisses. She walked away for a moment, encouraging the calf to get up onto its feet.
When it wobbled on its feet and fell down, she would then go back to it, and help it up again; before walking away, so that it could try to get up and walk again.
Calf takes its first steps
Within a short while of being born, the calf was on its hooves and walking! A wobbly gait, but a walk nonetheless.
“It was such an excitement to be able to see the calf being born, better than seeing any animal hunting,” says Brett. “We had to try to keep our distance to ensure the cow was comfortable with us around. This was truly an amazing experience!”
Newborn buffaloes are usually able to walk within an hour of being born, so this one, while certainly special, was not necessarily gifted in its ability to stand and walk.
The mother buffalo will be very protective over her baby and keep the calf hidden in vegetation for the first few weeks of its life, nursing it before it is grown enough to join the herd.
With lions nearby in this instance, the mother would have to be extra vigilant; however, she appeared to be a fully capable mom.