3 more wolves killed by train in Banff National Park
Incident comes weeks after pup was killed by train and alpha female shot for bold behaviour
Three more wolves have been killed by a freight train in Banff National Park, according to Parks Canada.
The animals were struck Monday morning on the CP Rail line about 26.5 kilometres west of the park's east gate, a communications officer told CBC News.
The incident comes just over two weeks after a wolf pup was struck and killed by a train in Banff.
The pup was killed on June 18 near Hillsdale Meadow, about 10.5 kilometres farther west along the rail line, near an area where a Bow Valley wolf pack has its den.
The pup, believed to be about eight to 10 weeks old, had been born to a pack that also recently suffered the loss of its alpha female on June 7, when the animal was shot dead in an effort to protect people.
Park staff had determined the adult wolf had grown too bold and accustomed to humans after snatching food from a campground at Tunnel Mountain, despite efforts to scare it away.
Earlier this year, a photographer captured a dramatic sequence of images as a wolf pack took down an elk on a railway overpass in Banff, near the turnoff to Lake Minnewanka.
Concerned about the wolves' safety at the time, Parks Canada employees removed the elk carcass from the tracks.
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