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Freak lightning storm kills 323 reindeer in Norway

  

Category:  Fields and Streams

Via:  community  •  8 years ago  •  8 comments

Freak lightning storm kills 323 reindeer in Norway

OSLO, Norway -- A freak lightning storm has killed 323 reindeer in a remote mountainous area of Norway, officials said on Monday.


Dead animals were found lying on top of each other, many with their antlers entangled, after the thunderstorm on the Hardanger plateau in southern Norway on Friday.

"We've never had anything like this with lightning," Kjartan Knutsen of Norway's nature surveillance agency said, adding there were sometimes isolated cases of sheep or reindeer struck down.

 

Reindeer tend to group together when in danger. It was unclear whether the herd had been killed by a single lightning bolt or several.

Hardanger was extremely wet on Friday, helping conduct lightning.

"The high moisture in both the ground and the air was probably an explanation for why so many animals died," Olav Strand, a senior researcher at the Norwegian Institute for Nature Research, wrote in a statement.

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. Five of the 323 animals were found alive but badly injured and were shot by wildlife officials.

 

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Larry Hampton
Professor Quiet
link   seeder  Larry Hampton    8 years ago

Christmas may be a little later this year...

 
 
 
JohnRussell
Professor Principal
link   JohnRussell    8 years ago

I am not sure what to say. It is an interesting story though. 

 
 
 
Larry Hampton
Professor Quiet
link   seeder  Larry Hampton  replied to  JohnRussell   8 years ago

Yeah, I can't imagine walking upon that sight.

 
 
 
Dowser
Sophomore Quiet
link   Dowser    8 years ago

OH my gosh!  How horrible!

I hope it was quick and they didn't suffer...

 
 
 
Kavika
Professor Principal
link   Kavika     8 years ago

Very sad story.

 
 
 
Petey Coober
Freshman Silent
link   Petey Coober    8 years ago

Plateaus are high ground , the perfect setting for lightening strikes ...

 
 

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