Mystery As 20 Cows Zapped By Lightning In Spain
This is the moment a farmer found his 20 cows dead in the Spanish mountains after they were apparently struck by lightning.
The deaths allegedly happened during a thunderstorm on the Geras Mountain in the municipality of Geras de Gordon, in Castilla y Leon region, in the north-central Spanish province of Leon.
The video footage captures the horrid scene of the cows’ corpses strewn across the mountains.
According to local media, the area where the animals were kept is located around the top of the mountain and it is difficult to reach without a suitable vehicle.
A neighbour also told local media that the scene was “macabre” and explained that the cattle were in the area because they are owned by a farmer from Santa Maria de Ordas, a municipality within the same province.
The farmer had reportedly rented the whole mountain so that the cattle could graze.
The neighbours also claimed that these kinds of events are uncommon, as lightning does not usually strike animals.
The regional government has sent a team of veterinarians to take samples from the dead cows for postmortem examination.
Jose Domingo Cuesta, a local vet, said to local media that he knew about the case when a hunter sent him the footage. “As soon as I saw it I said that the deaths had been caused by a lightning strike”.
He also said that the “lightning spread through the land and went into their nails. For those large animals the effect is terrible. It goes into them, their blood is frozen.”
He also said that “it happens in natural circumstances, it is unpredictable. I have had cases where the lightning goes through a chimney, spreads through the barn and kills the animals”.
Vets are yet to announce the cause of death or confirm whether or not it was a lightning strike which killed the herd.
Local media reported that the animals will be removed from the area soon.
It is unclear whether the cows were insured or not.