Decoding Buffalo Friendships: How Personality Drives Social Bonds

**A new study from the City University of Hong Kong has uncovered intriguing insights into the friendships among feral water buffalo on Lantau Island.** Researchers found that buffalo with similar personalities, particularly females, tend to spend more time together, forming friendships based on their traits such as social tension, vigilance, and dominance. _Published in iScience under the title "Personality homophily drives female friendships in a feral ungulate,"_ the research offers a deeper understanding of the evolution of friendships in animals. **Key findings include:** - Female buffalo with similar behaviors, such as social tension, vigilance, and dominance, exhibit higher spatial associations, indicating they spent more time physically close to each other. - These social bonds possess potential implications for understanding buffalo habitat usage across different seasons and resource availabilities. **The study is significant as it sheds light on buffalo social structures and raises awareness about the welfare of such feral populations.** Understanding these animal friendships can offer insights into maintaining optimal health and promoting welfare through social bonds. Given the complex social structures of buffalo, the researchers highlight the potential for these findings to inform conservation efforts and welfare strategies for various species with similar social habits.