Other Species
In addition to those already listed there are a number of other species. The domestic
buffalo is descended from the wild water buffalo. The domestic buffalo are different
somewhat from each other indicating that they are descended from various subspecies
found in different parts of the world. Most of the domestic water buffalo of the world
are found in the hot, wet areas of the world where rice is produced. They are extremely
important in these areas, but are seldom found as agricultural animals in other parts
of the world. Over 95% of the water buffalo are found in Asia and over one-half of
the remainder are found in Africa, primarily Egypt.
Llamoids are members of the camel family native to the high elevations of the Andes
Mountains. They consist of four species in two genera. Lama glama, the llama; Lama pacos, the alpaca; Lama guanico, the Guanaco; and Vicugna vicugna, the Vicuna. They will interbreed and do produce fertile hybrids.
The donkey is considerably smaller than the horse and therefore is not capable of
carrying as heavy of loads as a horse. It is much more tolerant of hot, arid environments.
In general, the donkey is more apt to be found than the horse in hot, dry environments
where the agriculture is subsistence.