More than 300 reindeer in Norway were killed instantaneously during a lightning storm this weekend according to the Norwegian Environment Agency.
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The footage was released by the Norwegian Environment Agency, which said that 323 reindeer were killed, including 70 calves. Some of the reindeer were still alive when they were found, but had to be put down due to their injuries.
The reindeer died “in one moment”. NNI officials believe they were struck by lightning during a powerful storm that passed through the area. Speculation persists that the reason so many were killed is because they would have huddled together out of fear of the storm. It was unclear whether the herd had been killed by a single lightning bolt or several. Nylend said he never heard about lightning killing animals on this kind of scale, but has heard about lightning striking and killing animals on a smaller scale.
Reindeer tend to group together when in danger. However, authorities are nearly certain that the animals were killed by a lightning strike, due to their extremely close proximity to one another.
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According to the Guinness Book of Records, the deadliest lightning strike involving livestock occurred in 2005, when 68 cows were killed in Australia. While the agency usually does not remove animals when they die in the wild, it is now considering other options because of the large numbers, Knutsen said. The lighting strike is considered to be the largest fatal incident for the park’s reindeer known to date.
