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News tagged with herd

Drought returns to Sahel, bringing hunger

(AP) -- For the third time in the past decade, drought has returned to the arid, western shoulder of Africa, bringing hunger to millions. Aid agencies are warning that if action is not taken now, the region known as the ...

Space & Earth / Environment

created Jan 22, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 2

China struggles to meet surging demand for dairy

Despite a major safety scandal in 2008, China's demand for milk is surging as people grow wealthier, but the country's poorly kept and often undernourished dairy herds are struggling to keep pace.

Medicine & Health / Health

created Jan 16, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0

Paraguay confirms new foot-and-mouth outbreak

Major beef exporter Paraguay confirmed a new outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease Tuesday in the north of the country, four days after lifting a state of emergency imposed in the region in September.

Medicine & Health / Diseases

created Jan 03, 2012 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Bison on Konza Prairie fuel experiments to restore prairie ecosystem

The presence of bison at Konza Prairie Biological Station may seem iconic, a tribute to America's past when such herds roamed the range.

Biology / Ecology

created Nov 29, 2011 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Bee-ware: bees keep African elephants at bay

No need for big muscles or high-tech contraptions when it comes to protecting African plantations from elephants: a British biologist has discovered that buzzing bees will keep the beasts at bay.

Biology / Ecology

created Nov 22, 2011 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0

Expert: Hay test can lead to more efficient feeding during drought

An inexpensive hay test can offer the best guidance as to how much supplemental feed is required for a beef cattle herd, and at the same time, save ranchers money, according to a Texas AgriLife Research scientist.

Biology / Other

created Oct 21, 2011 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0

The scientists who stare at goats

Satellite technology is being used to track a herd of wild goats in an effort to understand where they roam and help protect our farmland and conservation areas. Using Global Positioning Systems (GPS) loggers, experts from ...

Biology / Plants & Animals

created Oct 20, 2011 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Calves clock-in for monitored mealtimes

Electronic ear tags are being used to provide an early warning system that will help farmers identify sick animals within a herd.

Biology / Other

created Jul 27, 2011 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Sri Lanka to count its elephants for first time

(AP) -- Sri Lanka is preparing for its first census of elephants in the island's forests to help protect the endangered species against the loss of its habitat.

Biology / Ecology

created Jul 13, 2011 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Ladybirds - wolves in sheep's clothing

(PhysOrg.com) -- CSIRO research has revealed that the tremendous diversity of ladybird beetle species is linked to their ability to produce larvae which, with impunity, poach members of 'herds' of tiny, soft-bodied ...

Biology / Plants & Animals

created Jun 24, 2011 | popularity 5 / 5 (2) | comments 0

Scientists uncover an unhealthy herds hypothesis

Biologists worldwide subscribe to the healthy herds hypothesis, the idea that predators can keep packs of prey healthy by removing the weak and the sick. This reduces the chance disease will wipe out the whole ...

Biology / Ecology

created Jun 23, 2011 | popularity 5 / 5 (3) | comments 2 | with audio podcast

'Kill a camel' to cut pollution concept in Australia

Australia is considering awarding carbon credits for killing feral camels as a way to tackle climate change.

Space & Earth / Environment

created Jun 09, 2011 | popularity 2.5 / 5 (8) | comments 35

SU biologist partners with National Park Service to study bison grazing in Yellowstone

While Yellowstone's celebrated bison may be among the most popular tourist attractions in the park, their grazing habits and increasing numbers have raised questions about the long-term stability of the park's grasslands. ...

Biology / Ecology

created Dec 20, 2010 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Pedestrians follow the herd instinct when crossing the road

(PhysOrg.com) -- A Leeds University study has discovered pedestrians are likely to act like a herd when crossing roads, blindly following other pedestrians.

Other Sciences / Social Sciences

created Nov 16, 2010 | popularity 3.1 / 5 (8) | comments 7 | with audio podcast report

Do have have a herding instinct?

(PhysOrg.com) -- A new study shows that consumers have a herding instinct to follow the crowd. However, this instinct appears to switch off if the product fails to achieve a certain popularity threshold.

Other Sciences / Social Sciences

created Oct 12, 2010 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 5 | with audio podcast

Herd

Herd refers to a social grouping of certain animals of the same species, either wild or domestic, and also to the form of collective animal behavior associated with this (referred to as herding) or as a verb, to herd, to its control by another species such as humans or dogs.

The term herd is generally applied to mammals, and most particularly to the grazing ungulates that classically display this behaviour. Different terms are used for similar groupings in other species; in the case of birds, for example, the word is flocking, but flock may also be used, in certain instances, for mammals, particularly sheep or goats. A group of quail is often referred to as a covey. Large groups of carnivores are usually called packs, and in nature a herd is classically subject to predation from pack hunters.

Special collective nouns may be used for particular taxa (for example a flock of geese, if not in flight, is sometimes called a gaggle) but for theoretical discussions of behavioural ecology, the generic term herd can be used for all such kinds of assemblage.[citation needed]

The word herd, as a noun, can also refer to one who controls, possesses and has care for such groups of animals when they are domesticated. Examples of herds in this sense include shepherds (who tend to sheep), goatherds (who tend to goats), cowherds (who tend cattle), and others.

For more information about Herd, read the full article at Wikipedia.
This text uses material from Wikipedia and is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.