Résumé
The ecology of the African buffalo (Syncerus caffer) has been the focus of extensive research studies over the past 50 years (Grimsdell, 1969; Sinclair, 1977; Taylor, 1985; Prins, 1996), including some more observational ones (e.g. Mloszewski, 1983). The species’ grouping patterns have historically been described as follows: mixed or breeding herds constitute the main social units, consisting of adult females, weaned and subadult individuals of both sexes (subadults are between 3 and 5 years of age) and a small proportion of adult males; bachelor groups gather males (two or more) 4 years of age and above; they gravitate around mixed herds, joining them mainly for mating and leaving them to escape intraspecies and gender competition and to improve their resource offtake efficiency until the next mating opportunity (Prins, 1996; Turner et al., 2005). Bachelor groups tend to have a transient composition, with individuals associating for periods ranging between a few hours and several months. Bachelor groups can interact with several mixed herds ensuring gene flow at the inter-herd level (Van Hoof et al., 2003; Halley and Mari, 2004; Turner et al., 2005). The mixed/breeding herd is classically defined by its home range, which has little interannual variation, and on which it interacts with bachelor groups, and a static and stable group size often affected by temporary and seasonal fusion–fission patterns (Prins, 1989a; Cross et al., 2004; Tambling et al., 2012). However, some aspects of this planet- and satellite-like framework have recently been challenged by observational studies.