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 Stampede
Home » Man Made Disasters » Stampede
What is a Stampede?
A stampede is an act of mass impulse among herd animals or a crowd of people in which the herd (or crowd)
collectively begins running with no clear direction or purpose. Stampedes are believed to originate from
biological responses in the brains and endocrine systems of herd animals. The response is believed to have
evolved to help animals escape predators. A large stampede will frequently destroy anything in its way.
In farmed animals, herd managers, sometimes called cowboys attempt to turn the moving herd into itself,
so that it runs in circles rather than self-destructing by running over a cliff or into a river, or from
damaging human life or property by overrunning human settlements. By an analogy, the term human stampede
is applied to a sudden rush of a crowd of people, usually resulting in many injuries and death from
suffocation and trampling. In stampede the term mob or crowd is used to refer to a congregated, active,
polarized aggregate of people, which is basically heterogeneous and complex. Its most salient features
include homogeneity of thought and action among its participants and impulsive and irrational actions
by its participants. Thus, stampede can be considered as a goal-directed defensive mob, which is highly
congregated.
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