Riches on the Range.

Venezuelan marshlands breed an alternative industry.

As far as the eye can see, black dots pepper the grassy, waterlogged marsh. As white herons swoop gracefully against the azure sky; there's a sudden splash and one of the dots moves. Curly horns and a dark snout appear, followed by the rest of this water buffalo's considerable bulk. It pulls itself from the water and lumbers to a patch of dry ground, but the punishing sun soon sends it back into the cooler marsh.

The scene feels like rural India. But it's actually eastern Venezuela's Paria Peninsula, where buffalo ranching takes advantage of the wetlands that spread north from the delta where the mighty Orinoco River spills into the Atlantic Ocean.

"This was land we couldn't do anything with until we brought in buffalo," says Wilfried Merle, owner of Hato Rio de Agua, a marshy 1,000-hectare ranch where some 700 buffaloes splash about in swampy glory "We tried cattle, rice and even capybaras."

Capybaras, the world's largest rodents and a source of meat, also thrive in Venezuela's swampy climes.

Buffalo farming, for both meat and dairy, has grown steadily in Venezuela since the animal was introduced from neighboring Trinidad and Tobago more than 30 years ago. From those first 3,000 imported buffalo, the national herd has increased to more than 120,000 on 150 ranches.

"It's a tropical animal and Venezuela is a tropical country. It has adapted very well." says Jesus Reggetti, whose herd of 400 buffaloes roams Hato Terecay, another 1,000-hectare ranch.

With 13 million cattle in Venezuela, buffalo makes up just a fraction of the ranching livestock. But in places like Paria, where land is in a floodplain--or literally under water year round--they have become an essential part of the local economy. Water buffaloes need water, mud or ample shade, since they possess fewer sweat glands than their bovine cousins. Their black hides, which hold more heat than light-colored cattle, also mean they need to cool off constantly. Aside from those requirements, however, the buffaloes are easier to raise, farmers say than cattle.

Water buffalo have a digestive system that permits them to graze on lower-grade pasture than cattle. And, although they produce less milk than cows, their milk renders 50% more fat. That means the dairy industry needs half as much buffalo milk to manufacture cheese, yogurt and butter. Buffalo milk commands double the price of cow milk at the wholesale level.

Buffalo beef is still eaten mainly in ranch areas like Paria, but demand is growing. The meat, which tastes like tender beef, is lower in cholesterol than beef and retails for about the same price.

"We sell everything we produce," says rancher Klaus Muller. "We have the demand but not the production."

Like Merle and Reggetti, Muller switched from cattle to buffalo some years ago to make better use of land surrounding a lagoon and because buffalo offers a good return on investment. For one thing, the animals produce 30% more offspring than the average herd of Venezuelan cattle. Bull market. When it comes to marketing, though, buffalo meat and milk are still a novelty in Venezuela, which has some ranchers looking into another use for the animals; tourism. The Paria Peninsula is already known for its pristine beaches. Merle, for one, is offering buffalo ranch stays to tourists. Merle's guests lodge in palm-thatched huts and spend time touring the ranch, even riding a buffalo steer. "They're very docile creatures' Merle explains.

While in the area, vacationers dine on buffalo burgers or steaks barbecued at an open-air restaurant Merle built on his land. He is now working on an ecotourism and research complex, complete with a wildlife preservation center.

The complex is constructed in Venezuela's native style, with palm frond roofs. All around are buffalo, swimming tranquilly among water lilies and mangroves in a lagoon. "Buffaloes are a good business," Muller says. "And more and more people are realizing it."