Science, innovation and perseverance are the ways officials with the national parks and railway hope to eliminate train-caused grizzly bear deaths in the Rocky Mountains.
Last week, a two-day science symposium hosted by Parks Canada and CP Rail attracted North America’s top scientists, conservationists and transportation experts to Banff.
On the table for discussion was how in both the short- and long-term, grizzly bear mortality on the railway line, which transects the mountain national parks, could be attained.
It is a major initiative with $1 million in funding from CP Rail that will see those in attendance at the symposium submit proposals this month for consideration as part of the research plan.
While brainstorming, information sharing and input from the science community will form the basis of the research plan expected to be announced in February, Parks Canada and CP are already testing some ideas in a living laboratory along the Bow Valley Parkway.
Parks Canada CEO Alan Latourelle and Canadian Pacific CEO Fred Green participated in part of the symposium and had a chance to take a first-hand look at the technologies being tested.
“I think the issues are very complex. They are not easy to deal with and we will have to look at different types of solutions on the rails and also off the rails,” Latourelle said. “We need to do the research before we make the investment – if we had moved too quickly on the Trans-Canada, we could have wasted a lot of money without fixing the issue.”
Garbage issues and the Trans-Canada Highway, he added, are two success stories for Parks Canada, but they took time to develop and time to evaluate as successful.
Time, perseverance and an understanding that CP’s business is an economic engine for the entire country was what Green asked those at the symposium to keep in mind for the future.
“There will be moments in time when you are frustrated and wondering what are we doing or not doing, what you would like us to do,” Green said. “It will take perseverance because it is not going to be a quick fix although we will go as quickly as makes sense to all of us.
“At the end of the day, those that have the perseverance to take us to another level of performance will be amongst those who have an opportunity to make a substantial change.”
CP Rail’s freight system is critical for many Canadian industries and for transportation of consumer goods across the country. It represents $50 billion in revenues for the company.
“There will be things that we do that make us less efficient than we are today in the interest of trying to find this balance between the wildlife that is so important for us and the efficiencies that we need not only for our shareholders but to enable the economy,” said Green.
Bill Hunt, head of resource conservation for Banff National Park, said a challenge for grizzlies in the park is there are many obstructions crossing their habitats that are both manmade and natural.
From the Bow River and the mountains themselves to the railway and Trans-Canada Highway, he said, wildlife has to learn how to use habitat effectively and navigate around obstacles.
Banff bears are also at a disadvantage because they are the smallest grizzlies in North America and stay with their young longer than any other population, according to Hunt.
“It is a challenging landscape for a mother and her cubs to learn how to utilize and figure out the safety concerns around the townsite and highways and other human uses,” he said, adding they make a living by remembering every single food source.
That has been an issue for CP, as grain spilled on the tracks attracts grizzlies.
While CP has invested $20 million to fix its grain hopper cars and operates a vacuum truck throughout the mountain parks, bears return.
“The issue we have had is that spillage from grain cars historically has taught bears to come down to the tracks. In the last few years there has been a tremendous effort to reduce the amount of spillage,” Hunt said. “Part of the challenges we have are dealing with the root cause, which is grain, and the bears’ desire to use the railway tracks as an easy travel corridor. But we also have to look at how can we change their behaviour in the short-term.”
Since 2007, CP Rail trains have been the single biggest killer of grizzly bears in the park with one to two being struck each year on average.
This year, one mother bear was killed on the tracks in May, leaving two orphaned cubs.
CP Rail spokesperson Breanne Feigel said even one death is unacceptable for the company, which is why it is putting forward money and efforts to find solutions.
Part of that involves something as simple as data collection. Feigel said this year train engineers have begun reporting and keeping detailed records of information any time they see a bear.
This spring and summer, throughout the mountain parks, she said 150 sightings were reported compared to the one mortality.
“The data set is low in terms of mortalities and we are putting mitigations in place so there will be none,” she said.
What the bears are doing at the time, how they react to the train, which direction they travel, size, colour and if they have a tag or collar are details recorded and shared with Parks, which had not been done before.
Part of the problem is when a train is barreling down on a grizzly on the tracks it instinctively runs in the direction of least resistance – which is along the railway.
“We know from observations the bears are not struck because they are unaware of the train, they are actually trying to escape the train. They look at the tracks and that is the best way to go,” said Chris Bunce, general manager of environment and safety program for CP Rail. “If we can find ways of deterring them from using the track they have a much better chance of survival.”
At the living laboratory, Bunce explained a peg board system could be attached to the railway ties every 100 metres to block and deter grizzlies from running on them.
Another technology being tested in Lake Louise is an electro-mat that would give an electric shock when an animal places its paw on it.
The mat does not work in isolation, but could sit at the end of a fenced section of railway to prevent grizzly bears and other wildlife from entering and walking along the tracks.
Bunce said it runs on a battery that is charged through a solar panel nearby and in the places it is being tested there are cameras to record how bears respond.
“This is a new application that we think has a lot of potential and it is something we need to establish before we consider fencing any part of the right of way,” he said.
Data collection is an important part of any scientific endeavour and the research project with Parks and CP is no different.
Hunt said this summer and over previous ones, baseline data has been collected on various issues including the shape of the railway and factors that contribute like sight lines, slope or bank.
Stationary cameras along the railway are also being used to collect information on how bears use the area as well as observations from CP staff.
“Into the future… we are going to want to put GPS collars on a number of bears in the area so we can understand how whatever changes we make – whether it is noise makers or changes to the vegetation, fencing, or devices – affect bear movement through the landscape. We want to see where they spend their time; are they moving away from high risk zones into low risk areas?” Hunt asked.
