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3mo ago

Train Collisions Kill Two Female Grizzlies in Banff National Park

The incidents have prompted agencies to intensify grain management along tracks to safeguard the vulnerable bear population

A male grizzly scrambles up an embankment as a CPKC train rushes by in the Bow Valley Parkway of Banff National Park in 2013.
Bear 122 — also known as The Boss — narrowly escaped being struck by a train in May. An accompanying female grizzly was killed.
'The Boss,' or Bear No. 122, is a massive grizzly bear that usually can be seen around Banff National Park. Two female bears were killed last month by trains, but The Boss was uninjured.

Overview

  • On May 27 a train struck and killed an at least eight-year-old female grizzly near Protection Mountain while her companion, Bear122 known as The Boss, escaped unharmed.
  • A second collision on May 30 in the Bath Creek area west of Lake Louise killed a younger female grizzly that may have been traveling with a sibling.
  • Parks Canada ecologist Saundi Stevens warned that losing breeding-age females inflicts lasting damage given grizzlies’ slow reproductive cycle and multi-year intervals between litters.
  • A 2012–2023 study found 84 grizzlies in the Banff-Yoho-Kootenay region overall but documented a 40 percent decline in bears near paved roads.
  • Canadian Pacific Kansas City has reduced grain spillage and cleared vegetation along rail lines and worked with Parks Canada to construct wildlife crossings in an effort to lower collision risks.