19 September 2006
Bear Killed by Train
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Bears on the CPR mainline are sometimes seen in Banff National
Park.
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Seven Mile Hill Alberta - The latest death of a bear along
the CPR tracks southeast of Banff is the fourth directly train-caused bear fatality in the mountain national parks in less
than 16 months.
Parks Canada officials confirmed Monday that a black bear, believed to be an adult male, died after being struck by a train around Seven
Mile Hill just before midnight on Saturday night.
It's the second black bear to die this year on the tracks in Banff National Park and its neighbouring parks.
A black bear was killed when it was struck by a train near Field in Yoho National Park in June.
Last year bear-train collisions in Banff National Park claimed the lives of two bears, Bear 66, a prominent female grizzly
with three cubs born in 2005, and also a cub of Bear 72.
Subsequent to the death of Bear 66, two of the sow's cubs were run over on the Trans-Canada Highway. A third was captured
and moved to the Calgary Zoo.
The latest black bear death also follows other serious incidents this spring and summer. A black bear died when hit by a motorcyclist
in June in Yoho and a bear-transit bus collision on the road to the Rimrock and gondola lift may have resulted in a bear
being injured. As well, wardens had to shoot one black bear this spring after it mauled a Banff cyclist, and the cub of a black bear sow
that was being relocated from the Canmore Nordic Centre died after falling when the bruin family was tranquilized.
Further west and outside national or provincial parks, wildlife officers have shot three black bears near Golden, B.C.
Parks Canada warden Ron Leblanc said the bear killed late Saturday was not eating grain on the tracks, nor was it struck on a curve. He
said no grain was found in the area Sunday when he checked what had happened to the bear, which died on a straight stretch of track.
"The nearest curve would have been probably 300 or 400 metres away," LeBlanc said Monday.
He said the bear, which appeared to have been healthy prior to the incident, may have been travelling along the track, not an uncommon
practice for bears in the area.
"They use that area all summer and fall," he said. "It's the easiest place to travel, plus some bears are probably
seeking grain at times."
Six grizzlies or black bears have died on the railway's tracks in the Bow River area and the mountain national parks including Yoho
since 1993, according to CPR spokesman Ed Greenberg. In contrast, there have been 52 other human-caused bear deaths not
caused by the railway in the same area, Greenberg said.
That includes everything from the death of bears at the hands of park wardens to bears being struck by vehicles, including Bear 66's
cubs that were hit on the Trans-Canada Highway.
Greenberg said the number of bears dying is an indicator of increased development near the railway's tracks in places like Canmore.
"This is an issue that involves development issues and other human-related factors," he said.
He called the latest bear death "further evidence of an issue that's much larger than the railway."
That sentiment doesn't wash with Jim Pissot, director of Defenders of Wildlife Canada.
Pissot said generations of bears have been trained by leaky railway cars to look for grain beside railway tracks, and the lack of grain
on the tracks in this case doesn't matter.
He said the railway company needs to do more to stop grain from leaking from hopper cars on to its tracks.
Pissot also scoffed at CPR claims the company's "footprint" in the mountain parks area hasn't changed, given the fact it's
moving more grain on longer trains through the mountains.
"It's absolutely ludicrous for CP to be saying its footprint hasn't increased," he said.
Pissot said the CPR has been the top cause of grizzly deaths in Banff National Park since 2000, and has contributed to the death of four
adult grizzlies and five orphaned cubs.
Pissot said all three of of Bear 66's cubs should be viewed as mortalities because of their loss to the ecosystem.
Greenberg said the railway wants to work with Parks Canada and look at solutions to reduce bear deaths.
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