Turkey. Van 11 july 2005
— First one sheep jumped to its death. Then stunned Turkish shepherds, who had left the herd to graze while they had breakfast, watched as nearly 1,500 others followed, each leaping off the same cliff.
In the end, 450 dead animals lay on top of one another in a billowy white pile.
Those who jumped later were saved as the pile got higher and the fall more cushioned.
"There's nothing we can do. They're all wasted," said Nevzat Bayhan, a member of one of 26 families whose sheep were grazing together in the herd.