Cows 'Commit Suicide' Off Swiss Cliff

More than two dozen cattle have mysteriously fallen from a cliff to their deaths in the Swiss village of Lauterbrunnen, leading some to wonder if the bovines committed suicide.

The Daily Mail reports that in just a span of three days , 28 cows and bulls plunged hundreds of feet and were killed instantly.

"'We are investigating because cows growing up in the mountains normally can estimate dangers and do not plunge down cliffs," a police spokesman said. Rescue crews flew helicopters into the valley to retrieve the carcasses, which posed a pollution threat to the local groundwater.

Cows are usually let loose by farmers at high altitudes in the Alps so they can graze. Some occasionally do fall to their deaths, but many agree that to have so many fall in such a short span of time is unusual.

Locals speculate that recent thunderstorms may have spooked the animals. But scientists dismiss the notion that the cattle committed suicide. They said the more likely explanation is that the animals were migrating in huge droves in search of more food and tightly followed each other one when they fell off the cliff to their deaths.

Last week more than 30 cows fell to their death off a cliff into the Fresno River near Coarsegold, Calif. Neighbors complained after the carcasses were left to rot for more than a week.

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