Authorities Baffled in California and Switzerland As Cattle Fall Off Cliffs and Die

Authorities Baffled in California and Switzerland
As Cattle Fall Off Cliffs and Die

2009 by Linda Moulton Howe


“We are investigating because cows that grow up

in the mountains normally can estimate dangers and do not plunge
down cliffs.” - Swiss Police Officer



September 8, 2009 Coarsegold, California, and Lauterbrunnen, Switzerland -
Coarsegold, California


Coarsegold is a ranching region north of Fresno, Madera County, California.
On
August 14, 2009, more than thirty young males from a cattle herd were
discovered dead in the Fresno River near Coarsegold, California, in
Madera County. The owner of the animals is a rancher from Chowchilla,
California, who did not talk to the media.


Some of the thirty young males, or bullocks, from a Chowchilla, California,
rancher's cattle herd that mysteriously fell over a cliff into the Fresno River and were
discovered on August 14, 2009. Image 2009 by KSEE-TV,
Channel 24, Fresno-Visalia, California.
Authorities
told KFSN-TV that “it appeared the herd stampeded down the sides of the
steep river channel and most plunged to their deaths on the rocks
below. Madera County Sheriff's Deputies shot and killed several of the
wounded survivors of the fall. Residents who live along the Fresno
River are afraid the dead animals could spread disease and contaminate
their water supplies.”
The Madera County Health
Department issued a press release on Monday, August 17, 2009, that
stated: “Threats to water quality are likely minimal. However, the
Madera County Environmental Health Department is looking into the
potential impact of possibly affected water systems and private wells
in the area.” Residents are angry that Madera County authorities did
not act immediately to remove the carcasses from the Fresno River.

Lauterbrunnen, Switzerland


Small Alpine village of Lauterbrunnen, Switzerland, in
lower right corner is southeast of Bern.
On
or about August 25, 2009, cattle began to plunge over a high cliff near
the small Alpine village of Lauterbrunnen. After three days of the
baffling falls, 28 cows and bulls had died on the rocks of the valley
floor below.


28 cows and bulls are dead on the valley floor after mysteriously falling over a high cliff
near the Swiss Alpine village of Lauterbrunnen. The animals began falling and dying
on August 25, 2009, for three days. Image 2009 by Daily MailOnline.
Swiss
policemen investigating the unusual scene had to call in helicopters to
remove the cattle bodies to prevent local groundwater pollution. “There
are no large carnivores living in the Alps anymore that would once have
disposed of the cattle bodies, so we have to move them away by air,”
said a Swiss police spokesman. “We are investigating because cows
growing up in the mountains normally can estimate dangers and do not
plunge down cliffs.”

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






By
Mail Foreign Service
Last updated at 10:56 PM on 28th August 2009

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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.



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



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.

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'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.









Cows graze in the picturesque mountains and valleys of Lauterbrunnen, rightOften
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.Sometimes,
particularly in Scandinavia, they reach clifftops overlooking an ocean
and, driven by the urge to cross a body of water, throw themselves off
in order to swim to the other side.
They often die of exhaustion or drown as a result.The
myth came to the public's attention when a Disney wildlife film in the
1950s mocked up the lemming migration to make it look like the animals
had committed suicide.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1209638/Scientists-baffled-suicidal-cows-throw-cliff-Switzerland.html#ixzz0RC6j4CKC