When lightning kills humans, as it does over 40 times a year in the U.S., it typically gets reported throughout the media. Such is not the case when lightning strikes kill wildlife.
So it was a rare occasion when the Colorado Parks and Wildlife SE Region tweeted news of a lightning bolt hitting a tree and killing a 300-pound bear that was sitting in it. The photo of the tree and bear were included:
“It died instantly,” the CPW reported.
The incident occurred late Monday night in Woodland Park, just northwest of Colorado Springs.
According to National Weather Service data, the U.S. averaged 43 reported lightning fatalities per year from 1989 to 2018.
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Science News once reported that reports of animal deaths from lightning strikes “are far rarer than the deaths themselves.”
Perhaps the most celebrated animal that survived a lightning strike is Sparky, the bison at Neal Smith National Wildlife Refuge in Iowa. It was struck by lightning in 2013, leaving clear burn marks on its back. It lived another five years before dying at the age of 14.
Photo courtesy of Colorado Parks and Wildlife and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife service.
