The skin of the wild water buffalo ranges from ashgray to black. From the hunches to the long and narrow head, the hair is moderately long, coarse, and sparse. The ears are relatively small and there is a tuft on the forehead. It has a length of 240 to 300 cm (94 to 118 in) from head to body, a tail that is 60 to 100 cm (24 to 39 in) long, and a height of 150 to 190 cm (59 to 75 in) at the shoulder.

The horns of both sexes are larger than those of any other living bovid and are heavy at the base and widely spaced up to 2 meters (79 inches) along the edges. The tail has a bushy tip; The hooves are spread out and large.

It is mostly restricted to the areas surrounding Kaziranga, Manas, and Dibru-Saikhowa National Parks, the Laokhowa Wildlife Sanctuary, and the Bura Chapori Wildlife Sanctuary in Assam; and in and around the Arunachal Pradesh D’Ering Memorial Wildlife Sanctuary. Meghalaya’s Balphakram National Park is home to a small population.