6 December 2008
Train Grain Keeps Grizzly Awake
Lake Louise Alberta - A grizzly bear feeding on grain
along CP Rail tracks near Lake Louise shows the bruins are still in danger from trains, says a conservation activist.
What appears to be a large male grizzly has been defying its normal winter sleep cycle and hanging around railroad tracks for the past
two weeks near the Alberta-B.C. border between Lake Louise and Field, B.C., said Jim Pissot, executive director of
Defenders of Wildlife Canada.
Despite the efforts of CP Rail to prevent grain from spilling onto the tracks and endangering bears attracted to the easy food, more
needs to be done, he said.
"Efforts have not proven adequate to date... there's still a problem with grain," said Pissot, who called CP Rail assurances
to the contrary "canned spin, buck-passing."
The last time a grizzly was killed by a train in th mountains west of Calgary was in 2007.
Pissot says at least four and possibly five black bears have been killed this way in 2008.
He said the railway has been the No. 1 human-related cause of death for grizzlies in Banff National Park.
"We can't afford to lose any more bears to trains," he said.
What needs to be better addressed is grain spill on the outside of rail cars at the time of loading that then falls onto the tracks,
said Pissot.
CP Rail is spending $23 million to combat the problem of grain spillage, including having contractors sweep clean the exteriors of its
cars, said company spokeswoman Breanne Feigel.
"We've been really proactive in this, teaching the loaders who aren't CP employees the importance of keeping the sills
clean," she said.
"The grain on the tracks has significantly decreased, so much so bears have been shredding ties on the tracks looking for grain
that's no longer there."
For now, CP Rail is willing to send cleaning crews to areas where grain spills are spotted, she added.
The province has deemed grizzly bears an endangered species with some experts saying there are fewer than 500 of the animals in
Alberta.
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