They are impressive beasts even when they are of normal size.
But this wild water buffalo is even more eye-catching than most. He is the proud owner of a set of an extremely large pair of horns.
The extraordinary mammal was captured at Kaziranga National Park in Assam, India, by amateur wildlife photographer Sanjeev Chadha.
The 49-year-old was hoping to snap a pair of colourful great hornbill birds but then the buffalo lumbered into shot.
Mr Chadha said: ‘I felt amazed and confounded to see a living buffalo with such huge horns, as I’ve never seen anything like it in my life.
‘I also felt quite sad to see the poor creature carry such huge horns – the guide told me that this particular one is very old.’
Water buffaloes are often hunted for their horns, which are made into jewellery or parts of musical instruments.
There are over 97.9 million of the beasts in India, representing over half of the entire world population.
According to National Geographic, the buffaloes can have horns that span up to five feet.
While it is not clear how long the horns of the buffalo pictured are, it’s certainly rare to see one with such a horn span.
The beasts spend most of their time submerged in Asian marsh waters in subtropical forests. They are in little danger of sinking into the mud because they have such wide-splayed feet, allowing them to move easily in swamps.
