Water buffalo produce a significant proportion of the world's dairy and draft power, particularly in South and Southeast Asia. Their welfare in intensive systems is largely invisible to global consumers.
Water buffalo welfare is one of the most geographically and culturally specific welfare challenges in animal agriculture. In South and Southeast Asia, where most buffalo live and work, welfare is shaped by traditional practices, poverty, climate and limited regulatory capacity. Working buffalo in hot conditions without adequate rest, water and veterinary care suffer from exhaustion, lameness and heat stress. Intensive dairy buffalo farms in India and China increasingly mirror the welfare problems of intensive cattle farming - early calf separation, metabolic pressure, restricted movement - with the additional deprivation of wallowing access. European buffalo mozzarella production is subject to EU welfare regulation and generally operates at better welfare standards.