Residents of Samsun, situated on the northern coast of Turkey, were surprised over the weekend when they looked out of their windows to see a huge flock of sheep overrunning the streets below.

As people were staying in-doors due to the country's coronavirus lockdown, a huge number of sheep were seen flocking into the city, with some even stopping on grassy patches to graze.

A resident in one of the city's apartment blocks filmed the sheep from above, showing just how many of the animals had found their way onto Samsun's streets, and took to social media to share the surprising experience.

Another video of the same incident shows a man, very nonchalantly, at the front of his herd as he leads them through the streets, while his sheepdogs keep the sheep in-line.

The bells on she sheep can be heard ringing and echoing off the tall apartment blocks in the city as the sheep 'baa' their way down the roads, following their owner.

As roughly a third of the world's population is currently under some form of coronavirus lockdown in an effort to fight the global pandemic, nature has taken the opportunity to try and reclaim some lost ground.


Many other wild animals have also dared to explore deeper urban areas and have been found in places which would usually be impossible for them to venture to; usually-packed beaches, city roads and waterways.

From surfing hippos to playful dolphins, animals have been taking advantage of a world in coronavirus lockdown, and now, the flock of sheep has become the latest group of urban adventurers.

A baby elephant named Themba was orphaned after his mother fell off a cliff. He was closely monitored and the keepers were hoping that he would be adopted by another mother. But, after a week, he was still left alone.

 They took him to the Shamwari Wildlife Rehabilitation Center, where he was introduced to Albert, a sheep. Themba charged up to Albert and scared him.

Albert hid in a cave for twelve hours, but the persistent of Themba finally won over Albert and he emerged. They became fast friends after that and have not been seen apart ever since.


 Dr Johan Joubert, the centre's wildlife director, said the robust sheep could handle rough-and-tumble with Themba much better than the human staff. He added: 'Albert is like a brother to Themba and he is definitely an important member of Themba's herd.

 There aren’t too many animal friendships between dogs and lambs, but Hice the husky has found a playful friend in this little lamb.

As soon as the dog approaches, the lamb is the only one to run right up to him. Soon the two start playfully jumping at each other.

Fun Sheep Facts for Kids

There are over 1 billion sheep in the world. China has the largest number of sheep in the world. Adult female sheep are known as ewes. Adult male sheep are known as rams. Castrated adult male sheep are known as wethers.


A group of sheep is known as a herd, flock or mob. Young sheep are called lambs. Sheep have a field of vision of around 300 degrees, allowing them to see behind themselves without having to turn their head. Sheep are herbivores that eat vegetation such as grass.

In nature most animals seem to play. If nature is inexorably locked in a battle for the survival of the fittest, where did playing come from? Researchers have been puzzling over this for a long time.

Questions such as,"What exactly does play do for a young animal, or "Does play really do anything to help a young or old animal become a fitter survivor, especially considering the energy and risk that it involves?"

If animals play for enjoyment and not to enhance their survival then researchers still do not have an answer to their evolutionarily-biased question. If indeed animals play just to be silly, then Darwinism is at a loss to explain the behavior's origin. If animals have evolved by purely natural forces, then every creature's behavior and features should be purely pragmatic. In other words,fun does not fit this formula.

The answer is not easily answered, but one thing is for certain - that animals experience playtime with the same amount of enjoyment as do humans.

The video below shows a sheep playing with a dog and both are having a great time chasing each other around. The sheep in particular is joyfully jumping and running in this game of tag.

An inter-species romance apparently has taken root in an animal park in southwestern China. Changmao the male sheep and Chunzi the deer are reportedly now inseparable, at Yunnan Animal Park.

Staff at the animal center posted a question on their blog about the ethics of allowing the relationship to continue. They can’t reproduce, so the inclination seems to be to not separate them. One of the animal keepers there said, “The sheep and the deer have been in love with each other since last year.” (Source: Google News)

Inter-species mating has been thought of by some as simply animal blunders, but it might be part of an evolutionary process which sometimes produces hybrid animals that are capable of reproducing.

“A growing number of studies has been presented as evidence that two animal species can combine to produce a third, sexually viable species in a process known as hybrid speciation. Newly identified examples include both insects and fish.” (Source: NationalGeographic)