Carabao | About The National Animal Of The Philippines
CARABAO – In this topic, we are going to know and learn about the national animal of the Philippines, which is known as carabao.
It is a domestic swamp-type water buffalo which is native to the Philippines. Albeit declared as a national animal of the Philippines, the National Commission for Culture and the Arts of the Philippines has stated that this has no basis in Philippine law.
It is known as kerbau in Malaysia and is also the official animal of the state of Negeri Sembilan in the said country. It is derived from the Visayan term karabàw.
As one of the national symbols of the Philippines, albeit unofficial, it represents strength, power, efficiency, perseverance and hardwork, acoording to the website FilipinosAround. It is also known as the “beast of burden” by Filipinos.
For its features, it has a low, wide, and heavy build of draught animals and varies in colour from light grey to slate grey. The animal have sickle-shaped or backwards-curved horns.
Male carabaos weigh between 420t o 500 kilograms or 930 to 1,100 pounds; and 400 to 425 kilograms or 882 to 937 pounds for females.
Known by its generic name water buffalo, its scientific name is Bubalus bubalis carabanesis.