More than 300 wild reindeer were recently killed by lightning at a Norwegian national park, National Geographic said quoting officials. Agency spokesman Kjartan Knutsen told the Associated Press that he has never heard of such a deadly lightning strike before this event. Speculation persists that the reason so many were killed is because they would have huddled together out of fear of the storm.
Advertisement
About 10,000 wild reindeer typically roam the picturesque Hardangervidda area, a mountain plateau largely protected as a national park. “But it happened in one moment”.
The animal tragedy is believed to have occurred during a lightning storm Friday. Of the 323 reindeer killed, five were euthanized due to their injuries, agency officials said.
Reindeer are often close together. In 2005, a lightning strike killed 68 cows at a dairy farm outside Dorrigo in New South Wales, Australia. “We don’t know if it was one or more lighting strike; that would only be speculation”, Nylend said. As for why so many reindeer were killed, there appears to be an explanation.
Thousands of reindeer migrate across the barren Hardanangervidda plateau as the seasons change.
Authorities have yet to decide what to do with the bodies – whether to leave them on the plateau, or take them away.
Advertisement
It is the second time this month that a large group of animals has been killed by lightning.
