Two female grizzlies killed by trains in Banff National Park

CBC News

· Posted: Jun 13, 2025 7:41 PM EDT | Last Updated: 29 minutes ago

The decease of 2 pistillate grizzly bears connected the railway enactment successful Banff National Park is simply a important stroke to the population, according to a Parks Canada ecologist.

The 2 bears were killed successful abstracted incidents past period and reported to Parks Canada by Canadian Pacific Kansas City.

Saundi Stevens, the acting wildlife ecologist with Parks Canada's Lake Louise Yoho and Kootenay field unit, said one of deaths happened connected the evening of May 27. The different happened successful the aboriginal greeting of May 30.

"The ecological value of losing, particularly breeding-age females, it conscionable can't beryllium overstated," Stevens said.

"They're peculiarly dilatory to reproduce. Yeah, that dilatory reproductive complaint conscionable means that grizzly carnivore populations can't rapidly retrieve from the losses of these breeding females."

Parks Canada says the archetypal incidental progressive a breeding pistillate grizzly who was with a well-known antheral bear, known arsenic Bear 122, oregon The Boss, astatine the time. 

"Male 122 that was with that archetypal bear, helium was uninjured, but he's rather acquainted with the tracks and his halfway location scope is successful the Bow Valley, truthful he's rather often successful and astir the bid tracks," she said.

"He seems to recognize the velocity of trains and the hazards they pose."

Stevens said the 2nd incidental progressive a younger pistillate grizzly. She said it was spotted with a 2nd bear, adding they whitethorn person been siblings.