Carabaos (Filipino: kalabáw) are a genetically distinct population of swamp-type water buffaloes (Bubalus bubalis kerabau) from the Philippines.

[2][3][4] Carabaos are the traditional draft animals in the Philippines for paddy field rice cultivation and are commonly raised by smallholder farmers.

They have also acquired great cultural significance to the Chamorro people and are considered the unofficial national animal of Guam.

[7] However, water buffaloes from Peninsular Malaysia and western Indonesia (Java and Sumatra) are not carabaos and descend from different populations that were introduced through a later separate route from Mainland Southeast Asia rather than through Taiwan.

Cognates include Cebuano kábaw, Tagalog kalabáw, Kavalan qabaw, Minangkabau kabau, Malay/Indonesian kerbau, Javanese kebo, and Indonesian Dutch karbouw.

[10] These Austronesian terms appear to be loanwords from the Austroasiatic languages and likely derives from a secondary pre-colonial introduction of water buffaloes into Island Southeast Asia via western Indonesia.

[11][9][13] Other native names for carabaos include damulag in Tagalog, Bikol, and Kapampangan; dueg in Pangasinan; and pagad in Ivatan.

The oldest evidence of water buffalo discovered in the Philippines is multiple fragmentary skeletal remains recovered from the upper layers of the Neolithic Nagsabaran site, part of the Lal-lo and Gattaran Shell Middens (~2200 BCE to 400 CE) of northern Luzon.

The remains are associated with red slipped pottery, spindle whorls, stone adzes, and jade bracelets; which have strong affinities to similar artifacts from Neolithic Austronesian archeological sites in Taiwan.

Based on the radiocarbon date of the layer in which the oldest fragments were found, water buffalo were already present in the Philippines by at least 500 BCE.

Trials in the Philippines showed that the carabao, on poor-quality roughage, had a better feed conversion rate than cattle.

In modern times, carabaos are also used to plow fields for crops that grow on dry land, like corn, sugarcane, or upland rice.

The kangga is typically used for rocky or muddy terrain, and has the advantage of being capable of traveling over rice paddy dikes without destroying them.

The careton come in various designs and can be covered in a roof of woven split bamboo (sawali) or thatched nipa palm leaves (pawid).

[34] Carabao hide was once used extensively to create a variety of products, including the armor of precolonial Philippine warriors.

A cryobank facility for this purpose was inaugurated in 2012 in the Livestock Innovations and Biotechnology complex of the PCC national headquarters in Muñoz, Nueva Ecija.

The cryobank also holds samples of other native breeds of domestic animals, as well as plans for the preservation of the germplasm of other threatened endemic species.

[38] Various organizations have also created sanctuaries for native carabaos where slaughtering animals is restricted and the introduction of foreign breeds are banned.

[38][39] The carabao is featured in numerous festivals (fiestas) in the Philippines due to its important role in rural farming communities.

[43][44][45] In the late 1980s, the carabao puppet character Kardong Kalabaw became popular as a symbol of the Philippine people's hard work and sense of industry.

[46] The Military Order of the Carabao, a social club started in 1900 by American enlisted men fighting in the Philippine-American War, believes that the water buffalo symbolizes the "camaraderie that grows among members of the armed forces who face the dangers and privations of extensive military service far from home.

[citation needed] Carabaos were introduced to Guam by Spanish missionaries in the 17th century from domestic stock in the Philippines to be used as beasts of burden.

A feral herd on the US Naval Magazine in central Guam was classified as protected game, but the population has been declining since 1982, most likely due to illegal hunting.

Today, they are rare in most parts of the island except in the US Naval Magazine near the village of Santa Rita, which is fenced on all sides.

The carabao population of Naval Magazine has grown to several hundred, to the point that they have become a pest and caused environmental damage, and polluted the water supply in the Fena Reservoir.

In 2003, the Navy began a program of extermination to control the carabao population of Naval Magazine, a move that was protested by many Chamorro people.