Over 300 wild reindeer were found dead following a lightning storm in Norway.
The Norwegian Environment Agency released images to the public and reported that a total of 323 of the animals were killed during the storm, including 70 calves.
A spokesperson for the agency, Kjartan Knutsen, told The Associated Press that reindeer tend to huddle together in bad weather which could be the reason why so many were killed at once.
He lamented, “We have not heard about such numbers before. I don’t know if there were several lightning strikes, but it happened in one moment.”
Wouldn’t it take more than one strike? Not necessarily, according to lightning expert John Jensenius from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
He pointed out to tech website The Verge that most lightning deaths are a result of ground current.
He explained, “First, there’s a direct strike — this is what most people think of when they think of lightning — that hits the tree or maybe the ground nearby. The energy then spreads along the ground surface, and if you’re anywhere near that lightning strike, you absorb it and get shocked.”
Image: Norwegian Environment Agency/FB
Quite an unfortunate event for these docile animals.
Experts are now trying to determine what to do with the large amount of carcasses.
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