Meet Radha, the adorable world’s smallest water buffalo measuring just over two feet!
If you heard the clump-clump of four heavy feet rounding the corner of a farm in Malawadi, Maharashtra, India, you might think you’re coming face-to-face with a gigantic beast – but instead, it’s Radha, the adorably squat shortest living water buffalo!
The beautiful three-year-old bovine was born on the farm of Trimbak Borate (India), and stands at just 2 ft 8 in (83.8 cm) tall – just a few inches taller than the shortest woman living Jyoti Amge (India) at 2 ft 0.7 in (62.8 cm).
Yet miraculously, Radha is almost four feet (1.2 m) smaller than the world’s tallest living water buffalo, King Kong (Thailand), who measures a whopping 6 ft 0.8 in (185 cm).
We would love to see them hang out!
Trimbak said to the Free Press Journal that he first noticed Radha’s small stature when she was about two-and-a-half years old, and shortly after his son Aniket, an agricultural graduate, decided to enter the sweet Murrah hybrid buffalo in agricultural exhibitions.
She participated in her first show on 21 December last year, and has since appeared in over 13 different events as a special guest.
“We are extremely happy that Radha has been registered in Guinness World Records,” said Aniket to Navshakti news, as reported by the Free Press Journal.
“We are now planning to participate with Radha in international exhibitions,” he continued, confident that this captivating creature can draw big crowds.
Read more stories about record-breaking pets in our Animals section!
Typical water buffalo are eight to nine feet long, and roughly five to six feet tall – so Radha is unbelievably short for her species.
Known as the “living tractor of the East”, domesticated water buffalo were bred to provide milk, meat, horns, hides, as well as transportation and plowing fields.
The mammals often spend their time in the swampy marshes and cool waters of South Asia’s wetlands, spreading out their toes to prevent their heavy bodies from sinking into the mud. They can be found all over the world, but wild water buffalo are most often located in protected areas in India, Nepal, Bhutan, and Thailand.
Like other buffalo, Radha also prefers to spend her time crunching on grass and plants, and splashing about in the water.
So here’s to hoping that she gets some delicious greenery in honour of her incredible new title.
Congratulations, Radha and the Borate family – you are all Officially Amazing!