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Description
The giant buffalo is a keystone species on the houze prairie. This massive bovid lives in vast herds, feeding on the low nutrient grasses and fertilizing the ground, improving its productivity and floral diversity with their grazing. The gestation of the giant buffalo is nearly two years, and young remain with their mother for their first two years, around twice as long as their closest living Earth relative, the Cape buffalo. While calves are not cared for as diligently once the new sibling is born, they often remain with their mother for another two years. Males then leave to join bachelor groups while females integrate into the herd on their own. Cows have their first calf at eight years old, and bulls generally don’t reach full maturity until they reach ten to twelve years old. Normally such long gestation wouldn’t be viable given how many predators are in their ecosystem, but living in complex herds can afford protection that wouldn’t be sustainable in smaller groups. Herds will form ranks around young and especially when young are around, bulls will gather and charge. Considering bulls can reach two tons in older specimens, this is a pretty insurmountable defense. Even so, hunting giant buffalo is how most subadult uktan find their mates and start families. Other predators target young buffalo, but having the protection of the herds enables a fairly high rate of survival and makes this strategy viable. The ecological rewards are noticeable, as they have outcompeted most other bovids and other grass specialists in their size class.

Description
The giant buffalo is a keystone species on the houze prairie. This massive bovid lives in vast herds, feeding on the low nutrient grasses and fertilizing the ground, improving its productivity and floral diversity with their grazing. The gestation of the giant buffalo is nearly two years, and young remain with their mother for their first two years, around twice as long as their closest living Earth relative, the Cape buffalo. While calves are not cared for as diligently once the new sibling is born, they often remain with their mother for another two years. Males then leave to join bachelor groups while females integrate into the herd on their own. Cows have their first calf at eight years old, and bulls generally don’t reach full maturity until they reach ten to twelve years old. Normally such long gestation wouldn’t be viable given how many predators are in their ecosystem, but living in complex herds can afford protection that wouldn’t be sustainable in smaller groups. Herds will form ranks around young and especially when young are around, bulls will gather and charge. Considering bulls can reach two tons in older specimens, this is a pretty insurmountable defense. Even so, hunting giant buffalo is how most subadult uktan find their mates and start families. Other predators target young buffalo, but having the protection of the herds enables a fairly high rate of survival and makes this strategy viable. The ecological rewards are noticeable, as they have outcompeted most other bovids and other grass specialists in their size class.