Buffalo are much like any wild animal, they were never truly domesticated, so they have a wild streak, and some are completely nuts. However there are some that are complete dolls. I know several people that have raised them and been involved with them on a small scale. There are registries, they have big shows and sales just like cattle. They do have some genetic deffects but being a wild animal predominantly we probably saw them just as expressed naturally as in captivity. They did have a very limited genetic pool to start with, but the bison herds at many national parks are very well managed and are actually worked annually just like cattle would be, it takes one heck of a pen system. I do know that many of them exchange bulls or buy them from private breeders in order to keep from inbreeding so rampantly, if I am not mistaken there are 1 or 2 herds at national parks that are closed in order to preserve the phenotype of the animal that was found native in those areas (I believe the herd at Yellowstone is one of those). I read several articles for an animal science class on it but cant remember all the details.