bzzboyz
Well-known member
- Joined
- Feb 21, 2003
- Messages
- 6,659
- Reaction score
- 14
Train kills 47 antelope
DIETRICH, Idaho (AP) -- Forty-seven antelope were fatally injured when hit by a train on Union Pacific Railroad tracks east of Dietrich.
That brought the total animal deaths on the tracks 10 miles east of Dietrich this winter to 122.
The Idaho Department of Fish and Game said the antelope were killed about three miles west of areas where 75 deer died last month in two accidents.
Regional conservation educator Kelton Hatch said the department learned of the kill from Idaho State Police, which had received a report from a motorist of injured antelope on Idaho Highway 24, which runs parallel to the railroad.
A Fish and Game officer on Saturday found antelope on the road with leg fractures. When he followed up in the area Sunday, he noticed magpies circling to the north. He walked to the tracks and discovered 44 antelope carcasses and three with serious injuries that had to be destroyed, Hompland said.
John Bromley, a Union Pacific Railroad spokesman in Nebraska, said the railroad has similar problems in other states, including in Wyoming. The company fenced off the tracks in one small area in that state, but the area east of Dietrich is expansive and fencing is not feasible, he said.
He said the train would need to slow to 10 mph to be able to stop in time to avoid the animals.
If the snow is deep, the animals still may not clear the tracks and instead try to outrun the locomotive. Two years ago, about 20 deer were killed near the same area. A witness driving along Idaho Highway 24 reported that he had watched as the train sounded its horn. Instead of moving into the deep snow, the deer tried to outrun the train.
The Idaho Wildlife Federation is looking at ways to alleviate blockage of winter wildlife migration corridors, said Russ Heughins, the organization's issues coordinator in Boise. It will address issues such as train kills, highway crossings and Lucky Peak Reservoir, where at least 85 deer and elk fell through the ice this year trying to cross the reservoir to reach lower country.
DIETRICH, Idaho (AP) -- Forty-seven antelope were fatally injured when hit by a train on Union Pacific Railroad tracks east of Dietrich.
That brought the total animal deaths on the tracks 10 miles east of Dietrich this winter to 122.
The Idaho Department of Fish and Game said the antelope were killed about three miles west of areas where 75 deer died last month in two accidents.
Regional conservation educator Kelton Hatch said the department learned of the kill from Idaho State Police, which had received a report from a motorist of injured antelope on Idaho Highway 24, which runs parallel to the railroad.
A Fish and Game officer on Saturday found antelope on the road with leg fractures. When he followed up in the area Sunday, he noticed magpies circling to the north. He walked to the tracks and discovered 44 antelope carcasses and three with serious injuries that had to be destroyed, Hompland said.
John Bromley, a Union Pacific Railroad spokesman in Nebraska, said the railroad has similar problems in other states, including in Wyoming. The company fenced off the tracks in one small area in that state, but the area east of Dietrich is expansive and fencing is not feasible, he said.
He said the train would need to slow to 10 mph to be able to stop in time to avoid the animals.
If the snow is deep, the animals still may not clear the tracks and instead try to outrun the locomotive. Two years ago, about 20 deer were killed near the same area. A witness driving along Idaho Highway 24 reported that he had watched as the train sounded its horn. Instead of moving into the deep snow, the deer tried to outrun the train.
The Idaho Wildlife Federation is looking at ways to alleviate blockage of winter wildlife migration corridors, said Russ Heughins, the organization's issues coordinator in Boise. It will address issues such as train kills, highway crossings and Lucky Peak Reservoir, where at least 85 deer and elk fell through the ice this year trying to cross the reservoir to reach lower country.
