Masterpiece – Asian Water Buffalo, calf & rider, antique carved inscribed stone, China. Inscription on the bottom 12 or more characters: the meaning is “this is a gift from nephew to his aunt”. Length: 18.5 cm = 7.25 inches; Height: 14 cm = 5.4 inches; Weight: 1151 g = 1 kg 151 g; Moh’s hardness: 3.0 - steatite (soap stone); Inscription on the bottom - 12 or more characters; Provenance: Private collection in Sarasota, Florida, USA. The water buffalo (Bubalus bubalis), also called the domestic water buffalo or Asian water buffalo, is a large bovid originating in the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia. The wild water buffalo (Bubalus arnee) most likely represents the ancestor of the domestic water buffalo.[3] Results of a phylogenetic study indicate that the river-type water buffalo probably originated in western India and was domesticated about 6,300 years ago, whereas the swamp-type originated independently from Mainland Southeast Asia and was domesticated about 3,000 to 7,000 years ago.[4] The river buffalo dispersed west as far as Egypt, the Balkans, and Italy; while swamp buffalo dispersed to the rest of Southeast Asia and up to the Yangtze River valley.[4][5][6] They are currently listed as endangered under the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, and it is estimated that there are less than 1,000 wild water buffalo remaining. These suspected wild individuals reside in small parts of India, Bhutan, Nepal, and Thailand. Threats: Habitat loss (especially to rice farming), hybridization with domestic buffalo, hunting, and diseases introduced by livestock. Although wild water buffalo can be locally common where they still persist, the world population is estimated to be fewer than 4,000 individuals and declining.