The year 2020 was tragic for the planet as a war, as Covid 19 pandemia hit all the countries, killing a lot of people and destroying activities and economy. Anyway, Research and development in buffalo has not been stopped. The Symposium of Americas and Europe, programmed for August in Canada, was postponed of course, but a WhatsApp group was founded to maintain link and information about. The Asian Buffalo Congress will be held, hopefully, in Nepal on June 2021, according the program presented by Prof. Bhuminand Devkota. The World Buffalo Congress will be held on October 2022 in Wuhan, China, according the China Authorities’ program report.
The IBF Training course in Italy could not be performed this year, but the Italian Buffalo Breeders Association was active, as reported in this number.
Interesting notes are reported about albinism in buffalo by Bulgaria and China scientists and research activity at Leibniz-Institute for Farm Animal Biology (Germany) and Instituto de Ciencia Animal (CUBA).
Last but not least, a special Research Topic of Frontiers in Veterinary Science, dedicated to buffalo health and production, was published this year including 27 scientific contributions from all over the world.
The IBF Secretariat worked to maintain connections and support to associates. Other requests to become members were examined, reaching 108 IBF associates, representing 37 countries. The list is enclosed, as usual, at the end of this Newsletter. Unfortunately, two people, IBF members, great breeders and buffalo lovers, passed away: Hector Antonio Scannone from Venezuela, and Carlos Maria de Llano from Argentina. We wanted to unknowledge their contribution to buffalo development in this number.
The Editorial Committee
