323 Reindeer Found Dead After Being Struck by Lightning

A lightning strike is said to be the cause of hundreds of reindeer being found dead in the Norwegian mountain region of Hardangervidda.

The pile of dead deer was discovered by a game warden in Telemark County. It was reported by Norwegian national broadcaster NRK, that there were around 323 deer found dead and were all found within a radius of around 50-80 meters according to Knut Nylend in a sputnik news article.

Dyretragedie på #Hardangervidda https://t.co/2OZZntnhEI

— Thorsten Fege (@thfege) August 28, 2016

Although mass deaths like this are unlikely, it’s surprisingly not uncommon for herds of cattle and deer to be killed by lightning strikes. It would be a very eerie occurrence to stumble upon a mass death of this proportion, however.

OutdoorHub Editor: Keenan Crow

Keenan Crow is an outdoor writer who graduated from Central Michigan University with a degree in journalism and creative writing. He has been writing for OutdoorHub for nearly five years, but anybody he is close with will tell you he has been telling hunting stories for far longer. He uses his experiences outdoors to write about things he loves - bow hunting, fishing, upland hunting, shed hunting, turkey hunting, waterfowl hunting, dog training, shotguns, ATVs and the outdoor lifestyle he lives in his home state of Michigan. Outside of hunting/fishing, he also loves to cook - especially with wild game - play golf and go on hikes with his yellow lab, Stella.