Why are these deer flying through the sky before Christmas? See the startling video

Wildlife officers in Utah don’t want viewers of a video showing deer flying past mountains and over prairies to get the wrong idea.

“These aren’t Santa’s flying reindeer!” said a Dec. 19 post by the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources on Facebook.

The deer are being relocated back to the wild after receiving a medical checkup and being outfitted with GPS trackers, wildlife officials said.

In all, about 1,200 deer will be checked and tracked in the regular winter program.

“These important efforts help us monitor and learn about deer migration patterns,” officials said in the post.

The dramatic video shows a helicopter airlifting three deer hanging below the aircraft past snowy mountains to land them in a meadow.

Waiting wildlife officers then equip them with GPS collars and release them back into the wild.

This story was originally published December 24, 2023 at 8:20 AM.