'Suicidal' Cows

[BURNING MAN]

Police baffled as dozens of 'suicidal' cows throw themselves off cliff in the Alps.


Swiss mystery: Dozens of cows' bodies litter the valley floor after they mysteriously fell from the alpine cliff many feet above.

In the picturesque Swiss village of Lauterbrunnen, the locals are worried.
Dozens of alpine cows appear to be committing suicide by throwing themselves off a cliff near the small village in the Alps.

In the space of just three days, 28 cows and bulls have mysteriously died after they plunged hundreds of metres to rocks below where they were killed instantly.

In each case, local mountain rescue services using a helicopter had to be called in to remove the bodies because of the danger to the local groundwater of pollution.

A police spokesman said: 'There are no large carnivores living in the Alps anymore who would once have disposed of the bodies so they have to be moved.

'We are investigating because cows growing up in the mountains normally can estimate dangers and do not plunge down cliffs.'

According to local reports, there had been violent thunderstorms in the area which may well have spooked the animals.

Cows wandering at high altitude are a common sight across much of the Alps, where farmers let them loose to graze on the green plateaus above the villages.

Often carrying large bells around their necks, most are dairy cows as the mix of vegetation and grasses at that high altitude are particularly good for milk and for making cheese.

Cows do occasionally fall to their deaths in these Alpine regions although it is rare for so many to fall in one particular place.

There has been speculation in the past that when this does happen it is because a tightly-grouped number have followed each other as they search for more grass.

Most scientists generally believe that animals are incapable of committing suicide.

Even lemmings, which by popular myth throw themselves off cliffs during mating season, do not take their own lives intentionally.

Instead, evolutionary pressures cause them to feel the urge to change habitat at which point they migrate in huge droves.

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[$$kneel-B4-me$$]

hey empirez is from there, i wonder if he know more about this?

[TheNugzMan]

Maybe there was fog or something and they couldn't see.

[kidflash2008]

This story needs to be studied closely. Most animals have some sense when they get close to a cliff, but something could of scared them into running off of it.

[empirez]

Hello, I am not from Switzerland but from Sweden. At least it is Europe, though.. Those cows was perhaps frightened. Since they are herd animals , they just run and run , til they fall from some cliff or such. For sure, its a mystery.

[kidflash2008]

It could be like the old South Park episode where the cows start to commit suicide. (I can't remember which one it was if any one can help with it.)

[TheNugzMan]

Now if we can just get them to turn themselves into tasty cheeseburgers...Hmmmm

[BURNING MAN]

Originally Posted by kidflash2008

It could be like the old South Park episode where the cows start to commit suicide. (I can't remember which one it was if any one can help with it.)

COW SUICIDE
Season 2: Cow Days

[kidflash2008]

Thank you, Burning Man!

[banannabell]

It's probably something like a sonic disruption that throws off the cow's sences, like when dolphins and whales are thrown off by raidar and end up beaching themselves. Or the farmers should put up a darn fence. Probably they got spooked by something in the night and took off running and didn't see the end of the cliff.