The reason for hundreds of reindeer in Norway was struck by lightning

The cause of 323 dead reindeer species on the Hardangervidda plateau of Norway is due to the behavior of clumping together in bad weather of animals.

According to the Norwegian Environment Agency, more than 300 wild reindeer were struck by lightning in Hardangervidda National Park during a thunderstorm on August 26. Most collective deaths due to lightning strikes occur when ground currents, John Jensenius, safety expert at the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) said.

"First, the lightning strikes down, hits the tree or maybe the ground around. The energy then spreads on the ground, and if you are in the vicinity of a lightning strike, you will be electrocuted." Live Science quoted Jensenius.

Dead caribou corpses are listed on Norwegian grasslands.(Photo: Harvard Kjotvedt / Norwegian Environment Agency).

According to Jensenius, the electric current from lightning strikes from one leg to the other, so animals are more susceptible to impact because their feet are more exposed to the ground, making the current more easily spread throughout the body.

As a concentrated animal in the herd , reindeer often moves in large groups. Kjartan Knutsen, spokesman for the Norwegian Environment Agency, said reindeer tends to clump together in bad weather. This may help explain why the number of reindeer dies at the same time due to lightning strikes.

The researchers collected specimens from reindeer to check for signs of chronic wear and tear (CWD) , a disease that attacks the nervous system in the deer family, leading to brain damage. Normally, the environmental agency will let dead animals decompose on the spot. But due to concerns about the spread of the CWD epidemic, authorities said they would wait for the test results before making a final decision.