Some 323 dead wild reindeers struck by lightning are seen littering a hillside in Norway. Picture: Havard Kjotvedt /Norwegian Environment Agency, NTB scanpix, via AP

MORE than 300 wild reindeer have been killed by lightning in central Norway.

The Norwegian Environment Agency has released eerie images showing a jumble of reindeer carcasses scattered across a small area on the Hardangervidda mountain plateau.

The agency says 323 animals were killed, including 70 calves, in the lightning storm on Friday.

More than 300 reindeer were found dead in Norway. Picture: Havard Kjøntvedt, Environment Directorate/Norwegian Nature Inspectorate via StoryfulSource:Supplied

Agency spokesman Kjartan Knutsen said it’s not uncommon for reindeer or other wildlife to be killed by lightning strikes but this was an unusually deadly event.

“We have not heard about such numbers before,” he said.

Knutsen added that reindeer tend to stay very close to each other in bad weather, which could explain how so many were killed at once.

“I don’t know if there were several lighting strikes,” he said. “But it happened in one moment.”

Experts say reindeer tend to stay very close to each other in bad weather, which could explain how so many were killed at once. Picture: Havard Kjotvedt /Norwegian Environment Agency, NTB scanpix, via APSource:AP

Knutsen said the agency is now discussing what to do with the dead animals. Normally, they are just left where they are to let nature take its course, he said.

Thousands of reindeer migrate across the barren Hardangervidda plateau as the seasons change.

Wildlife officials say the reindeer deaths were highly unusual. Picture: Havard Kjotvedt /Norwegian Environment Agency, NTB scanpix, via APSource:AP