Cheryl Smith, age 10, of Monroe, La., for her question:

WHERE CAN YOU FIND WATER BUFFALO?

Several kinds of wild oxen are called water buffaloes. Some of them have been domesticated and are among the most useful of all farm

animals./

The water buffalo of India is one of the largest of wild cattle. The male can stand six and a half feet tall and have horns that spread out 12 feet from tip to tip, measured along the curve. The horns sweep out and back to form almost a circle.

The Indian water buffalo has been imported to many parts of the world and can also be found working today in Eypt, Spain, Italy, Hungary, southern Soviet regions, southern Aisia, the East Indies and the Philippines.

The water buffalo likes to wallow in the mud and water a large

part of the day. They are fierce when wild and are said to be a match for a large lion or tiger.

When domesticated, the powerful water buffalo can be used to plow rice fields because it can easily plod knee deep through mud.

Water buffalo hide is tough and thick and makes good leather. The milk of the cow is nourishing, with more fat than the milk of domestic cows. It is used in India for making a liquid butter.