6 August 2008
Bear Killed on Tracks
Lake Louise Alberta - Spilled grain along the railroad
tracks was a fatal attraction that lured an untagged black bear early Saturday morning, likely the cause of the third
railroad-related bear death this year.
At approximately 3:20 a.m. on Saturday, a medium-sized adult black bear was hit by a rail car east of Lake Louise near
Protection Mountain. The bear was unknown to Park wardens.
"This is the third rail strike for black bears that we have had this year," said acting Resource Conservation Manager for the
Lake Louise, Yoho, and Kootenay Field Unit Shelley Humphries.
Canadian Pacific Railway is working on a program to clean up 3,000 hopper cars to avoid any grain spillage along the tracks. While
traveling down the uneven tracks, bumps cause small amounts of grain to spill out of the cars.
"Hopefully we will be seeing the positive effects of this (clean-up) soon," said Humphries.
She also said bears are very active right now. Buffaloberries are starting to ripen at Lake Louise's elevation, and that attracts bears.
"We are going to start to see more and more bears coming into the valley," said Humphries.
Since December of 1998, CPR has been using a vacuum truck to catch any grain spilled from the cars. Any grain that isn't caught can
attract bears and other wildlife to the tracks.
Anyone who sees large quantities of grain next to the railroad tracks is asked to contact the Banff Field Unit at 762-1447
or Canadian Pacific Railway immediately. Also any bear activity should be reported as soon as possible to the Banff Field
Unit.
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