[Assessment of noise exposure in sheep]

The behaviour of sheep was recorded as a reaction to the sound pressure levels caused by shooting with heavy machine guns. The reactions varied in intensity depending on the distance of the source of the noise from the fold. In the case of salvoes that were fired in the immediate vicinity of the fold and were associated with sound pressure levels higher than 120 dB (LCpeak), the sheep reacted with marked fright reactions, and no adaptation to the shooting noise was observed. It is concluded that the tolerable maximum noise level for sheep with this kind of noise source is likely to be less than 120 dB (LCpeak).