An electrical storm has caused the deaths of 323 reindeer living in a national park in southern Norway, authorities announced Monday.

The animals’ corpses were found Friday night by a ranger at Hardangervidda National Park in a small area with a diameter of between 50 and 80 meters (164 and 262 feet).

“It is something very unique. I’ve heard of cattle killed by lightning before, but never in these proportions,” Knut Nylend, of the State Nature Inspectorate (SNO), told public television channel NRK on Monday.

Nylend pointed out that reindeer often gather close together, especially during instances of bad weather.

SNO staff collected evidence from the site, although authorities have yet to decide what to do with the charred carcasses.

Hardangervidda is Norway’s largest wild reindeer reserve, with a population of between 10,000 and 11,000 specimens living in an area of 8,130 square kilometers (3,139 square miles).

 

Copenhagen, Aug 29 (EFE)