ADAM’S ANIMALS

Buffalo don’t just roam on far-flung plains, discovers farmer and Countryfile presenter Adam Henson; these hairy bovids can now be found in Warwickshire, Wiltshire and even Wales

No need to go on safari; buffalo and bison can now be found in Wiltshire and Wales.

They’re wild, woolly and weighty but you don’t have to go on safari or travel to the American plains in order to see buffalo. These beefy beasts have had a starring role in hundreds of exotic wildlife documentaries and old cowboy movies, yet for the last couple of decades they’ve also had a minor role on the British farming scene. They’re the most impressive members of the bovid family and, as the name suggests, they’re related to cattle as well as goats, antelopes and wildebeest.

The term ‘buffalo’ not only includes the Cape buffalo from Africa and its South Asian cousin the water buffalo, but also a genetically different animal altogether, the American bison. It’s common for buffalo and bison to be grouped together and the two names have been interchangeable since the days of the American pioneers, but there are some less-than-subtle differences. Buffalo are the ones with the impressively big, curved horns while bison have a large, muscly hump behind their shoulders, which gives their heads a powerful punch.

CRÈME DE LA BUFFALO

Among the first successful buffalo farmers in Britain was Nick Griffin, whose family started farming in the Buckinghamshire countryside shortly after the end of the Second World War. For years, Nick milked Friesians on his farm at Slapton, but in 1998, he took a gamble by importing 120 water buffalo from Romania. Within a few years, his herd grew to more than 400 thanks to a contract to supply buffalo milk to a supermarket chain.

Buffalo milk is a creamy alternative to the ordinary pint, praised by its fans for having more protein and less cholesterol than cow’s milk. The British love affair with mozzarella has also helped buffalo farmers in the UK. The soft, rindless, white cheese was traditionally made from the milk of water buffalo, and most pizzas just wouldn’t be the same without it. There’s also a living to be made from buffalo steak, buffalo ice cream and, surprisingly, buffalo dung (an excellent fertiliser).

SURPRISING BEASTS OF WALES

There are buffalo and bison farms in Hampshire, Wiltshire, Fife, the West Riding of Yorkshire and even in Warwickshire. But one place I wasn’t expecting to come face to face with mighty bison was on Lord Newborough’s farm in North Wales. The Rhug Estate covers 12,000 acres of Merioneth countryside and it’s one of the UK’s largest providers of organic lamb. It is home to a huge flock of sheep as well as a herd of Japanese sika deer. After giving me a tour of the enormous lambing shed, farm manager Gareth Jones was keen to show me the big beasts in his care. The bison herd was started to provide a tasty, low-fat red meat, but Gareth also knows the PR value in rearing such a distinctive animal. “They’re an attraction; people know about us because we keep bison.”

They’re classed as ‘Dangerous Wild Animals’ and anyone who keeps them must be licensed. There’s certainly something very primeval about the look of a bison. I don’t mind admitting that when Gareth opened the cattle-shed doors I was more than happy to keep my distance as these imposing beasts almost stampeded past me. But what a majestic and unforgettable sight.