During the Pleistocene epoch the genus Bubalus was widely distributed throughout Europe and southern Asia and contained forms conspecific with B. arnee. When the climate became drier the genus was restricted to the Indian subcontinent, mainland South-East Asia, and some of the South-East Asian islands. In historical times B. arnee ranged across South and South-East Asia, occurring from Mesopotamia to Indochina (Epstein 1971; Mason 1974; Cockrill 1984).