Wildlife deaths on railway lines rarely enter public awareness, yet the scale of these losses is far greater than most people realize. Across British Columbia and beyond, trains strike animals that never appear in official reports, leaving communities and conservationists with no clear picture of the damage. The Revelator notes that scientists view these collisions as a major, underestimated cause of wildlife mortality. The disconnect between what railways report and what observers witness widens the information gap.
BC faces this uncertainty firsthand. Much of what is known comes from local field crews, residents, and researchers, not from standardized provincial tracking. Without formal records, entire species groups vanish along rail corridors with no mechanism to understand patterns or prevent repeat deaths.
Wildlife deaths on BC railways are rarely tracked in a consistent way.
Species Hit Hard Across Canada’s West
Reports from western Canada reveal that grizzly bears, moose, elk, deer, and smaller mammals intersect with long stretches of rail that cut through habitat and feeding grounds. In Alberta and BC, grizzly deaths on the tracks have become a recurring issue. Global News describes multiple incidents where bears died near the same bend in the tracks, a sign of predictable hotspots that remain unaddressed.
These deaths do not occur in isolation. Railways run through key movement corridors where animals cross for food, water, or seasonal migration. When attractants such as spilled grain accumulate along the tracks, risk rises sharply. Despite this, there is no unified system to remove attractants or warn animals away from danger zones.
Many species die on the tracks without appearing in official reports.
Global Examples Show How Widespread the Danger Is
British Columbia’s problem fits into a worldwide pattern. In India, collisions kill endangered Asian elephants along forested rail routes. The News reports that trains strike elephants at known high-risk sections where speed control and monitoring could reduce deaths.
Elsewhere, entire migrations face the same peril. Each spring, thousands of toads in Europe cross roads and rail lines to reach breeding ponds, DW reports. Meanwhile, volunteers have built fences and tunnels that guide amphibians safely under tracks.
In the United States, desert tortoises in California’s Mojave region face deadly encounters with trains and vehicles. NBC News describes repeated losses in fragile ecosystems where long-lived animals cannot recover quickly.
These global cases underline a core truth: hotspots exist, patterns are identifiable, and targeted solutions save wildlife.
Grizzly bears have been repeatedly struck at the same Alberta–BC hotspots.
Action in British Columbia Can Prevent Future Loss
Researchers stress that simple measures—reducing train speeds in known hotspots, clearing spilled grain, installing wildlife crossings, and using trackside warning systems—can reduce deaths. Yet British Columbia lacks mandatory requirements to track collisions, publish data, or coordinate mitigation with rail operators.
Without consistent reporting, BC cannot address the true scale of this crisis. Wildlife continues to die out of public sight, leaving preventable losses unchallenged.
British Columbia can change this path. Transparent data, enforced mitigation standards, and stronger provincial oversight would help protect species already under pressure from habitat loss and climate change.
Take Action
Sign the petition urging British Columbia to create mandatory reporting and mitigation standards for wildlife–train collisions.
