Video: Flock of sheep walked in a circle for 12 days in China. Nobody knows why

A flock of sheep in China walked in a circle for 12 days (Image: @PDChina/Twitter)

Hundreds of sheep walked eerily in a circle for 12 days in China without stopping. The bizarre behaviour was captured on camera in footage that has now gone massively viral online.

According to the Metro, the flock of sheep walked clockwise in a circle for nearly two weeks at a farm in China’s Inner Mongolia region.

Their owner, a woman identified only as Ms Miao, claimed that there are 34 pens in total at the farm. However, only the sheep in pen 13 exhibited their spooky behaviour of non-stop walking. She also said that initially a few sheep started walking in a circle, and were soon joined by others.

The great sheep mystery! Hundreds of sheep walk in a circle for over 10 days in N China's Inner Mongolia. The sheep are healthy and the reason for the weird behavior is still a mystery. pic.twitter.com/8Jg7yOPmGK

— People's Daily, China (@PDChina) November 16, 2022

Although it is not clear what caused the sheep to walk in circles, some on social media theorised it could have been caused by a disease called Listeriosis — also known as “circling disease.”

“Initially, affected animals are anorectic, depressed, and disoriented. They may propel themselves into corners, lean against stationary objects, or circle toward the affected side,” reads an entry describing the disease on the Merck Manual.