323 Reindeer Electrocuted by Lightning Strike after Norwegian national park is hit by stormy weather
More than 300 wild reindeer have been killed after they were struck by lightning at a nature park in southern Norway.
The animals were linked to a thunderstorm which battered the Hardangervidda region on Friday.
A further five reindeer had to be euthanised, according to the Norwegian Nature Inspectorate.
Gamekeepers said they had already counted the lightning-charred bodies of 323 reindeer, which a spokesman described as an "unusually high" death toll.
All of the reindeer – both adults and calves – were found within a radius of just 165 feet.
Knut Nylend, a spokesman for the Norwegian Nature Inspectorate, said; "They were lying there dead in a fairly concentrated area. Reindeer are pack animals and are often close together. During a heavy thunderstorm, they may have gathered even closer together out of fear”
"There was an especially heavy thunderstorm in the afternoon. The herd was probably struck dead by the lightning," he told Sputnik News.
"This is very special. I've heard of cattle being killed by lightning, but not in such huge volumes."
The mountain plateau Hardangervidda in central southern Norway is the largest of its kind in Europe. Much of the plateau is protected as part of Hardangervidda National Park, which has a population of around 10,000 wild reindeer, one of the largest of its kind, according to the Norwegian Wild Reindeer Centre.
The animals were linked to a thunderstorm which battered the Hardangervidda region on Friday.
A further five reindeer had to be euthanised, according to the Norwegian Nature Inspectorate.
Gamekeepers said they had already counted the lightning-charred bodies of 323 reindeer, which a spokesman described as an "unusually high" death toll.
All of the reindeer – both adults and calves – were found within a radius of just 165 feet.
Knut Nylend, a spokesman for the Norwegian Nature Inspectorate, said; "They were lying there dead in a fairly concentrated area. Reindeer are pack animals and are often close together. During a heavy thunderstorm, they may have gathered even closer together out of fear”
"There was an especially heavy thunderstorm in the afternoon. The herd was probably struck dead by the lightning," he told Sputnik News.
"This is very special. I've heard of cattle being killed by lightning, but not in such huge volumes."
The mountain plateau Hardangervidda in central southern Norway is the largest of its kind in Europe. Much of the plateau is protected as part of Hardangervidda National Park, which has a population of around 10,000 wild reindeer, one of the largest of its kind, according to the Norwegian Wild Reindeer Centre.
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Source: Telegraph , RT , Sputnik News, The Local
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