26 June 2010

Train Kills Grizzly

Banff Alberta - Another grizzly bear was killed by a train along a notorious stretch of railway just west of Banff.
 
The 130-kg untagged male, believed to be about five or six years old, was hit by a Canadian Pacific Railway train around 11:40 p.m. on Friday about 7 km west of Banff.
 
The death marks the sixth grizzly bear killed along a two-kilometre stretch of tracks since 2007, said Steve Michel, human wildlife conflict specialist with Banff National Park.
 
"That is quite high," he said. "To put it in context, since 2000, we've had a total of 12 grizzly bears killed in the Bow Valley so six of them have occurred in that very short stretch."
 
A "very small amount" of grain was found on the tracks near where the bear was hit, said Michel, but officials aren't sure if that's what drew the bear there.
 
"What we do know is there's certainly good food resources throughout the area at this time of the year," he said.
 
"This bear clearly was feeding on some natural vegetation not far from the railway tracks and it was likely using the railway tracks as a travel corridor."
 
Dave Dormer.