The present study was carried out with the aim of proposing the preservation of buffaloes not only as productive livestock, but also as a part of the diversity of the Greek wetlands. The total buffalo total population in Greece was in the late 40's over 100 000 animals. At present, only a few hundred animals are found in four Ramsar wetland sites in Macedonia and Thrace. This small population is threatened with immediate extinction because of the rapidly changing rural socioeconomic conditions and the expansion of cultivated fields in the old marshiands. Furthermore, consumers are rapidly losing contact with buffaloes and their products.
