[WATCH] Over 300 reindeer killed by freak lightning strike in Norway

Over 300 wild reindeer have been killed by lightning in southern Norway, in what officials have described as an unusually large natural disaster.

Aerial footage shows reindeer carcasses scattered across a small area of the Hardangervidda mountain plateau, a national park where Europe’s largest her of some 10,000 wild reindeer roam freely.

The footage was released by the Norwegian Environment Agency, which said that 323 reindeer were killed, including 70 calves. Agency spokesperson Kjartan Knutsen told AFP that it is not uncommon for reindeer or other wildlife to be killed by lightning, but that “we have not heard about such numbers before”.

He added that reindeer tend to stay very close to each other in bad weather, which could possibly explain why so many were killed at once during Friday’s storm.

Norwegian authorities have yet to decide what to do with the carcasses.

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

It is the second time this month that a large group of animals has been killed by lightning. On 25 August, 38 sheep were killed after they were struck by lightning in the Indian district of Kanchipuram.