More Than 300 Reindeer Die In A Bizarre Tragedy

Officials on Monday announced that more than 300 wild reindeer had been killed by lightning in southern Norway.

The tragic incident is the largest known to date.

A gamekeeper found 323 reindeer, including 70 young, on the Hardangervidda plateau. The national park is home to some 10,000 wild reindeer that roam freely.

“There were very strong storms in the area on Friday. The animals stay close together in bad weather and these ones were hit by lightning,” an official from the Norwegian Environment Agency, Kjartan Knutsen, told AFP.

“It’s unusual. We’ve never seen anything like this on this scale,” Knutsen said.

“We’re going to decide soon whether to let nature run its own course or whether we will do something,” he said.