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'Over 100' reindeer killed in days by Norway freight trains

AFP
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'Over 100' reindeer killed in days by Norway freight trains
Photo: John Erling Utsi / NTB scanpix

More than 100 reindeer have been killed by freight trains in northern Norway in recent days in what has been called a "bloodbath" during their winter migration.

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One train killed 65 deer on a track on Saturday while 41 died between Wednesday and Friday, broadcaster NRK reported on Sunday.

"I'm so angry that I'm dizzy," owner of the 65 dead reindeer, Ole Henrik Kappfjell, told NRK.

"It's a senseless animal tragedy...a psychological nightmare," he added.

Norway is home to around 250,000 semi-domestic reindeer and most of them live in the nation's far north.

At this time of the year, herders take the reindeer to the winter pastures in search for grazing grounds, a perilous journey as many animals are hit by cars and trains. Some also drown.

Photos taken by documentary filmmaker Jon Erling Utsi showed dead reindeer lying in the blood-stained snow. Some were shot because they were wounded after Saturday's incident.

"It was a nightmare to watch," Utsi told NRK.

"The worst thing was the animals that were not killed in the accident, they were lying there, suffering, it was a bloodbath over several kilometres," he added.

More than 2,000 reindeer were run over along the same northern railway line between 2013 and 2016.

The herders are demanding the railway operator install a fence along the track but there has so far been no funding.

READ ALSO: Norway and Sweden in quarrel over grazing reindeer

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