More than 300 reindeer were killed by lightning in southern Norway, officials said Sunday.
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Norway’s Environment Agency says reindeer usually huddle together during bad weather, which could explain why so many were killed. Five more were put down due to the severity of their injuries.
It’s unclear whether a single lightning bolt killed off the pack of 323 reindeer or if several bolts struck them over the course of a few minutes.
The staggering numbers admittedly are odd, according to a spokesman from the agency.
Reports say the remote area had been experiencing some severe weather, and it’s thought the herd was struck during a recent powerful storm.
“The energy then spreads along the ground surface, and if you’re anywhere near that lightning strike, you absorb it and get shocked”.
The animals’ carcasses were seen strewn across a mouintain plateau in eerie images released after the strike.
According to Knutsen, it is unknown whether one strike killed the reindeer, or if it was multiple strikes.
The animals, adults and calves of both sexes, were found dead Friday in an area of about 54 to 84 yards in diameter in south-central Norway’s Hardangervidda region.
Officials surmised that an extremely high discharge of electricity from the storm on Friday – and the interaction of the lightning with the earth and water – had electrocuted the animals.
In Germany earlier this year, more than 70 people were hospitalized after a lightning strike at a rock festival.
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Norwegian Nature Inspectorate Knut Nylend told Norwegian news agency, NTB, that samples from the reindeer were sent to the Norwegian Veterinary Institute to confirm how the animals died.
