While he seems docile enough when viewed undisturbed in the herd, when agitated or wounded this bovine can be extremely aggressive, vindictive, and cunning. Found all over southern Africa in herds of various sizes, the largest males approach 2,000 pounds and 6 feet at the shoulder and take nearly 10 years of growing to reach full size.. He is primarily a grazer but an occasional browser who must drink every day. They favor the thick bushveld during the day, leisurely moving and grazing as they go. At night they tend to herd up to protect the young from their archenemy, the lion. Both males and females have horns, but the males horns grow larger and can measure close to 4 feet across. Males also develop a thicker neck, a larger hump over the shoulders, and a fringe of long hairs around the throat that looks a bit like a beard, but is called a "dewlap".
