140 Lappland reindeer in mysterious death plunge
(AFP) One hundred and forty reindeer have plunged to their death in Lappland in northern Sweden, possibly having been chased off a cliff by a single lynx, reindeer herders said on Tuesday.
"About 140 reindeer have been killed," Olof Tomas Labba, of the Tuorpons Sami town that owns the reindeer, told AFP.
"It's a massacre. I have never seen anything like this," town spokesman Nils Petter Pavval told local paper Norrländska Socialdemokraten, adding that the reindeer had been grazing when something frightened them.
"It was a lynx that chased and frightened the reindeer off the cliff. Reindeer have a sixth sense, they know the cliffs and overhangs and thin ices.
They don't just rush off a cliff of their own free will, but must have done this in panic when a predator hunted them," he added.
According to Labba, the reindeer had been valued at about 300,000 kronor (42,500 dollars).
Photo & copyright: Patrick Trägårdh / source: www.imagebank.sweden.se
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"About 140 reindeer have been killed," Olof Tomas Labba, of the Tuorpons Sami town that owns the reindeer, told AFP.
"It's a massacre. I have never seen anything like this," town spokesman Nils Petter Pavval told local paper Norrländska Socialdemokraten, adding that the reindeer had been grazing when something frightened them.
"It was a lynx that chased and frightened the reindeer off the cliff. Reindeer have a sixth sense, they know the cliffs and overhangs and thin ices.
They don't just rush off a cliff of their own free will, but must have done this in panic when a predator hunted them," he added.
According to Labba, the reindeer had been valued at about 300,000 kronor (42,500 dollars).
Photo & copyright: Patrick Trägårdh / source: www.imagebank.sweden.se
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