323 reindeer killed by bolt of lightning

More than 300 wild reindeer were killed by lighting in Hardangervidda, central Norway, on Friday, Aug. 26, 2016./Photo: Havard Kjotvedt/Norwegian Environment Agency

A single bolt of lightning during a thunderstorm is believed to have killed 323 wild reindeer in Norway.

Photos taken by the Norwegian Environment Agency show the carcasses scattered across a remote part of a private hunting area in the Hardangervidda National Park.

Knut Nylend, a spokesman for the Norwegian Nature Inspectorate, discovered the dead animals while on routine patrol.

“They were lying there dead in a fairly concentrated area. Reindeer are pack animals and are often close together," Nylend told the Norwegian News Agency.

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Nylend said the herd was likely struck dead while huddling together "out of fear" during the storm.

"We’ve heard about animals being struck by lightning and killed, but I don’t remember hearing about lightning killing animals on this scale before. We don’t know if it was one or more lighting strike; that would only be speculation," he added.

Five members of the herd had to be euthanized because of their injuries and 70 of the dead animals were calves.

“We sent up a team of eight people to take samples to be sent to the Norwegian Veterinary Institute for research. Then we will know for sure how the animals died,” said Nylend.

Hardangervidda National Park is Norway’s largest wild reindeer range, and an estimated 10,000 of the pack animals migrate across the mountain range each year.

Reindeer are beloved and prominent players in modern Christmas lore. St. Nick and his sleigh-pulling reindeer are the subjects of countless songs and literary works.

We all know the "most famous reindeer of all" Rudolph.

And there's Dasher and Dancer and Prancer and Vixen. We know Comet and Cupid and Donner and Blitzen.

And here's an interesting fact about those last two members of Santa's team.

Donner is the German word for "thunder." And blitzen is the German word for "lightning."