More than 300 reindeer were killed by lightning during a storm in Norway on Friday.
On Sunday, the Norwegian Environment Agencyreleased photos of reindeer bodies strewn across the Hardangervidda mountain plateau.
According to the agency, 323 animals will killed during the lightning storm.
Agency spokesman Kjartan Knutsen told AP that reindeer often huddle together during bad weather, which is likely why so many were killed during the storm.
Knutsen told AP it's not uncommon for reindeer to be killed by lightning, "but we have not heard about such numbers before."
Photo: Havard Kjøntvedt, Environment Directorate / the Norwegian Nature Inspectorate
Some 10,000 reindeer migrate to the area each year, according to Norwegian Environmental Agency.
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.
“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. We don’t know if it was one or more lighting strike,” Nylend told NTB.
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here