Short answers, pulled from the story.
The five distinct subspecies include the Cape buffalo found in southern and eastern regions, the forest buffalo measuring less than one meter at the shoulder, the Sudan buffalo occupying drier northern areas of Central and West Africa, the Nile buffalo inhabiting similar dry zones, and the mountain buffalo existing only within the Virunga Mountains of the Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda, and Uganda.
African buffaloes possess exactly 52 chromosomes which prevents hybridization with domestic cattle or bison. This genetic difference distinguishes them from other large bovids like American bison or domestic cattle that have different chromosomal counts.
Horn bosses do not harden until the animal reaches eight or nine years old. Adult male horns fuse at the base into a solid bone shield called a boss which can span over one meter across in large bulls after this maturation period.
Wounded buffaloes frequently ambush hunters leading to reports that they kill more people in Africa than any other animal. In Uganda large herbivores attack humans at higher rates than felids inflicting fatalities approaching 50%.
The species currently holds a Near Threatened status according to the IUCN with populations declining to approximately 400,000 individuals across Africa. Historical collapses occurred during the great rinderpest epidemic of the 1890s which caused mortalities as high as 95% among wild ungulates.