The video shows dozens of sheep walking clockwise in a nearly perfect circle on a farm in the city of Baotou, Inner Mongolia, which has been posted on Twitter earlier this month, had baffled people around the world. The original footage was posted by Chinese state-run outlet People's Daily.
In the footage, filmed from the farm's CCTV, hundreds of sheep were seen following one another around in a circle.
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| Image source: Twitter |
Other sheep are stood in the middle of a circle, with some eventually deciding to join the display. Others remained at the very centre of the circle staying completely still.
According to the Chinese news outlet, the flock of sheep had been displaying this behavior since November 4. The animals were moving like this for at least 12 days, and it is unclear whether they stopped at intervals to eat or drink or whether the sheep are continuing their movements as of November 21.
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| Image Source: Twitter |
When the video of a flock of sheep continuously walking in a circle in China’s Inner Mongolia went viral, netizens came up with different theories. Some experts have put the behavior down to listeriosis—a bacterial disease also known as 'circling disease.' The bacteria can inflame one side of the brain and cause the sheep to behave in the perplexing way and start circling.
However, a scientist from the UK says that it's possibly comes down to herd mentality. Matt Bell, a professor and director at the Department of Agriculture at Hartpury University, in Gloucester, England, told Newsweek, "It looks like the sheep are in the pen for long periods, and this might lead to stereotypic behavior, with the repeated circling due to frustration about being in the pen and limited [as to where they can go]. This is not good. Then the other sheep join as they are flock animals and bond or join their friends."
Ms Miao (The farm’s owner), claiming that the movement was started by just several sheep with the remainder of the flock eventually joining in. Ms Miao kept the sheeps in 34 pens, but only one flock of sheep, in one pen, have been acting strangely.
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