HERD OF 64 PRONGHORN STRUCK BY TRAIN –
A train has struck a herd of pronghorn north of Hamer, Idaho. The area had received snow making travel difficult for the pronghorn. The herd had congregated on the cleared tracks to get out of the heavy snow. As the train moved down the tracks towards the pronghorn, they had no place to go. The deep snow and a nearby freeway fence caused the pronghorn to stay on the tracks. Because the Pronghorn were unable to leave the tracks, a collision with the train happened. Which resulted in 45 pronghorn dying immediately and 19 being badly injured which were later dispatched by Idaho Department of Fish & Game. Fish & Game officers distributed the meat to needy families in the area and local food banks.
“We have had these sad situations happen before during big snow events,” says Curtis Hendricks Wildlife Manager for the region. “These pronghorn are unable to cross the freeway fence as they migrate west and unfortunately they ended up on the tracks where the snow isn’t as deep.”
Trains and Wildlife.
There are a large number of incidents like this happening all over the county. An article from June 2019, states that the same group of bears were stuck by two separate trains. The state of Montana reported that they had nearly 800 animals killed by trains in 2011. Sadly these accidents still continue to happen. The most common solution is to run fencing along the track. Fencing an area however can have drawbacks. Buying fencing materials in such large amounts can be expensive. Besides that, it also creates a larger issues with wildlife migrations. Blocking off an area can prevent the movement of nomadic wildlife in the area. What are some of your solutions? Let us know in the comments below.
Resources for this article:
https://idfg.idaho.gov/press/train-collides-64-pronghorn-north-hamer
https://www.idahostatesman.com/outdoors/article239933858.html
