Around 300 reindeer have died following a lightning storm in central Norway in what wildlife officials described as an unusually large natural disaster.
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The Hardangervidda area is home to 10,000-11,000 reindeer, which is the largest reindeer population in Norway. Because reindeer huddle together during storms, the animals were found contained in an area just 50 to 80 metres (164 to 262 feet).
Carcasses of 323 reindeer were discovered strewn about the Hardanger plateau on Friday, some lying over each other with entangled antlers.
While park officials said it was not unusual for the occasional animal to be struck by lightning, the magnitude of Friday’s incident was nearly unprecedented.
Kjartan Knutsen, from Norway’s nature surveillance agency, said that to see this many reindeer struck down by lightning is unprecedented.
Lightning appeared to have killed an entire herd: 323 reindeer at last count.
“We know they were killed by lightning, but this testing is for science”, he said.
A spokesperson for the German Red Cross said 71 people were injured during lightning strikes on Friday, including eight who had to be hospitalised.
“We’ve heard about animals being struck by lightning and killed, but I don’t remember hearing about lightning killing animals on this scale before”. In 2005, a lightning strike killed 68 cows at a dairy farm outside Dorrigo in New South Wales, Australia.
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Experts flew in by helicopter to take samples of the dead reindeer, amid a rising stench of decay, as part of a project to monitor elk and deer for diseases.
