The Impact of Foot and Mouth Disease

The outbreak of Foot and Mouth disease in Britain, in February 2001 resulted in the slaughter of millions of animals, including many hefted flocks.

Unlike animals, which are kept in fields, hefted sheep are extremely difficult to replace. When they died, their knowledge of the fells died with them. To replace them would require many patient and hardy shepherds or thousands of kilometres of electric fencing to keep them in place.