Today a news has been known that has not taken long to go around the world. In Norway, 323 reindeer have been found dead due to a lightning strike. The animals were found by a ranger in the Hardangervidda National Park. It is assumed that the impact was last Friday, given that big storms were recorded in the area. Precisely this area has a population of around 25,000 wild reindeer. It is the place with the most reindeer in the world.
The animals were possibly killed by the so-called “ground current”. This electrical effect occurs around the point where lightning strikes. It consists of the current scattered on the ground going up one leg and down the other, which is especially deadly in animals, as it affects vital organs. In fact, the death of most of the animals has been due to cardiac arrest.
When there is a storm, animals tend to group together and take refuge under trees, a fact that favors these misfortunes. In any case, the scale of deaths is very unusual. There has been no record of so many deaths in one fell swoop since a storm in 1918 killed 654 sheep.
It is precisely because of this kind of misfortune that it is necessary to protect farms with lightning protection systems. Animals that are outdoors are very exposed to these misfortunes in the event of a storm. Such is the case of the 64 cows that died in Chile, mentioned here. This news of the dead reindeer, although exceptional, reflects a real risk.
