What it is
The water buffalo (Bubalus bubalis) is the domestic Asian buffalo, kept for milk, meat, and draft. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations puts buffaloes at about 15 percent of world milk; in India and Pakistan buffalo milk exceeds cow milk.
Range
South and Southeast Asia hold most of the herd; smaller populations live in the Mediterranean, the Caucasus, South America, and elsewhere. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations maps buffaloes as livestock.
What happened
People domesticated the Asian buffalo and built wet-rice and dairy systems around it. River and swamp types differ in milk, draft, and the wetlands they live in.
When / status
A living domesticate, and a major dairy species in South Asia.
Human role
We keep buffaloes as milk and draft animals in South Asia and in smaller herds elsewhere.
Sources
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, buffalo dairy page and Livestock Systems: buffaloes.