Water Buffalo, Paddy field, Gampaha, Sri Lanka.

A Water Buffalo used in agriculture confronted me on a foot-path in a paddy field. He would not move and I had to detour.

One of a herd of Buffaloes at Malabe

Buffaloes have been the beasts of burden in South Asia for millenia. They are still used very profitably in Sri Lanka. I took this picture of the head of one of them in the outskirts of Colombo, at Malabe.

An egret on a water buffalo, Kuruwita, Sri Lanka.

Domesticated water buffalos are used extensively in agriculture, from time immemorial in Sri Lanka. Egrets live in symbiosis with the water buffalos. The insects stirred up from the soil by the water baffalos, form an ideal source of food for the egrets. The egrets also pick the ticks from the water buffalos, benefitting the water buffalos. I took this picture on the road to Bopath Ella, the beautiful waterfall, from Kuruwita.