Grizzly cubs killed in train collision near Trego

Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks discovered two grizzly bear cubs that were killed on the railroad tracks southeast of Trego.

FWP staff was notified by the U.S. Forest Service on the evening of Tuesday, Oct. 15 of a possible bear carcass along the tracks. Upon investigation, FWP identified a dead female cub and another cub of unknown sex located on and near the tracks. It’s unclear when the cubs were killed.

A BNSF Railway train was parked at the section of split tracks where the carcasses were located, and FWP notified BNSF Railway personnel at the scene. FWP staff did not locate the adult female that would have been accompanying the cubs.

This year to date, there have been 44 known or probable grizzly bear mortalities in the Northern Continental Divide Ecosystem across northwest Montana. Of those, eight have involved train collisions, the most in a single year on record.

The grizzly bear is listed as a threatened species in the lower 48 states under the federal Endangered Species Act.

For more information about grizzly bears in Montana, visit http://fwp.mt.gov/fishAndWildlife/species/grizzlyBear/default.html.