A STUDY OF THE BODY TEMPERATURE, RESPIRATION AND PULSE RATES OF MALAYSIAN SWAMP BUFFALOES EXPOSED TO THE SUN

M. PATHMASINGHAM, AHMAD AMAN, ABDUL WAHAB YUSUF and  MOHD. KAMAL KHALID

SUMMARY

The paper reports a study of the basic physiological characteristics of the Malaysian swamp buffalo. It also discusses the effect of sex, age and times of the day on these characteristics. The overall means recorded on all the animals in this study, for rectal temperature, Rhoad's Heat Tolerance Coefficient, respiration rate, Benezra's Index of Adaptability and pulse rate was 38.87°C, 89.53, 48.76, 3.14 and 48.32, respectively. The effect of sex on these measurements was insignificant. However, the age effect was highly significant (P<0.01), with the 2-4 year-old buffaloes being superior in adaptability to an exposed environment, as compared to the 1-2 year-olds. Further, the effect of time of day on the different characteristics was variously significant (P<0.01), with the hottest hours of the day producing severe stress on these animals. The physiological values obtained in this study were compared with those obtained from buffaloes in Egypt, India and the Philippines, under similar conditions. The comparison demonstrated that the Malaysian swamp buffalo is less well adapted to a hot environment than its counter parts in Egypt, India and the Philippines. A suggestion as to the kind of research that needs to be undertaken to improve the productivity of the Malaysian buffalo, by increasing its adaptability, is discussed.

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