Fatal livestock lightning accident in Colombia

Lightning-caused accidents with multiple fatalities in livestock and other four-legged animal are informed by the media every year, frequently without any technical point of view, all around the world. This paper reports a lightning accident in Los Llanos, eastern plains region of Colombia, related to the death of a herd of 83 cattle occurred on May 2013. The relative localization and a description of the case scenario in which the cattle were sheltering from the rain on a scrub under some trees is presented. From the lightning data collected for the years 2012 to 2016, the incident area has an average lightning stroke density of 4 to 16 flashes per square kilometer. The analysis of this type of accidents would help to develop and improve protection systems for livestock against lightning currents and for insurance companies to assess livestock farming lightning risks and claim investigations.