It is the only subspecies that occurs mainly in the rainforest of central and western Africa : Congo, Angola, Gabon, Cameroon, Senegal, Benin, Burkina Faso, Nigeria, Sierra Leone , Guinea, Liberia, Ivory Coast, Togo, Ghana ….

 Its average at the withers is 1.10 to 1.20 m, weighing between 400 and 650 kg

The African forest buffalo is a smaller variety of African buffalo. Cape buffalo weigh from 400 to 800 kg  whereas African forest buffalo are much lighter, weighing 250 to 320 kg. Weight is not the only differentiation, however; this subspecies has reddish brown hide that is darker in the facial area. The shape and size of the horns distinguish forest buffalo from other subspecies. African forest buffalo have much smaller horns than the Cape buffalo. Cape buffalo horns often grow and fuse together, but forest buffalo horns rarely fuse.