Responses of Dairy Buffalo to Heat Stress Conditions and Mitigation Strategies: A Review

Buffalos are mainly reared in Asia, but little by little, they are becoming important in other part of the world such as Africa and Europe. Due to increases in temperature and climate change, most dairy animals are affected by heat stress (HS), a condition in which they cannot dissipate an adequate quantity of endogenous heat. Heat stress negatively affects clinical parameters, reproductive performance, and milk yield and its characteristics, with a huge economic impact on farmers and the buffalo milk industry. Nevertheless, there are some strategies to mitigate the effect of HS by adding antioxidant substances to their diet, modifying the content of fiber and protein of the diet, or providing cooling systems to the buffalo such as shade, fans, sprinklers, and pools.Increases in temperature and the greater incidence of extreme events are the consequences of the climate change that is taking place on planet Earth. High temperatures create severe discomfort to animal farms as they are unable to efficiently dissipate their body heat, and for this, they implement mechanisms to reduce the production of endogenous heat (reducing feed intake and production). In tropical and subtropical countries, where buffalo breeding is more widespread, there are strong negative consequences of heat stress (HS) on the production and quality of milk, reproduction, and health. The increase in ambient temperature is also affecting temperate countries in which buffalo farms are starting to highlight problems due to HS. To counteract HS, it is possible to improve buffalo thermotolerance by using a genetic approach, but even if it is essential, it is a long process. Two other mitigation approaches are nutritional strategies, such as the use of vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants and cooling strategies such as shade, fans, sprinklers, and pools. Among the cooling systems that have been evaluated, wallowing or a combination of fans and sprinklers, when wallowing is not available, are good strategies, even if wallowing was the best because it improved the production and reproduction performance and the level of general well-being of the animals.