page_title: Herd
hierarchical_section_title: Herd
caption_attribution_description: A boy herding sheep in India.
context_page_description: A herd is a social group of certain animals of the same species, either wild or domestic. The form of collective animal behavior associated with this is referred to as herding.
  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. 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 but for theoretical discussions of behavioural ecology, the generic term herd can be used for all such kinds of assemblage.
  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, goatherds, and cowherds
context_section_description: A herd is a social group of certain animals of the same species, either wild or domestic. The form of collective animal behavior associated with this is referred to as herding.
  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. 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.
  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), and cowherds (who tend to cattle)
caption: Boy herding a flock of sheep, India; a classic example of the domestic herding of animals
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