Geneva, July 19, (dpa/GNA) – A lightning strike in the Alps has killed 97 Blacknose sheep in the Swiss region of Valais, with around 80 animals surviving, the Keystone-SDA news agency reported on Saturday.
The animals had been standing close together in a fenced area, which has historically been unusual but is now necessary to protect the flock, the affected sheep farmer told Keystone-SDA.
Sheep farmers frequently complain about the expansion of the wolf population, which threatens their flocks and forces them to take protective measures that were previously unnecessary.
The devastating lightning strike was first reported by the online news site Pomona. The carcasses were retrieved from the mountain by helicopter, the farmer said.
The incident occurred overnight on an Alpine meadow at the 2,503-metre Eggerhorn in the Binn valley, south of the Rhone. It came after heavy thunderstorms swept across large parts of Switzerland following an extended heatwave. The SRF Meteo weather service had already recorded 26,000 lightning strikes within the space of a few hours by Thursday evening.
Blacknose sheep are a Swiss breed typical of Valais, recognizable by their spiral horns, fluffy white fleece and black markings around the eyes, muzzle and nose, among other areas.
They are valued for their wool and meat, and play an important role in landscape management by grazing and keeping steep mountain meadows short.
GNA