The eighth grizzly bear to die after roaming onto Canadian Pacific tracks since 2000, the male was an astounding physical presence, in his prime of life with "excellent genetics."

And he was previously unknown to park scientists.

"A 600-pound grizzly bear in the fall months, after they've fed all summer long, would be a very large grizzly bear. But to have a bear that large at the start of the season, in the spring, is absolutely exceptional. It's almost unheard of in the Rockies," said Steve Michel, a park human-wildlife conflict specialist.

Michel said 30 years ago when grizzlies were still feeding on human garbage, the size of the bear would have been less unusual.Now, however, the size of this bear so shortly after winter is "extraordinary."

"It's a tremendous loss to the grizzly bear population," Michel said.

The grizzly male had little food in his stomach as he scrounged around the tracks west of the Fireside Day Use Area -- located just west of Banff township on the Bow Valley Parkway. As he fed on green grasses and dandelions shortly after 1 a.m. Thursday, he was struck.

"It looked like he got tossed down the edge of the tracks. There's sort of a steep bank there,"Michel said.

"He may have ran a very short distance and collapsed."

The grizzly was found about 50 metres (165 feet) away from the tracks. He died from massive internal injuries.

This is almost the exact location where, in June 2007, a mother and her two yearling cubs were struck and killed.

In that case, the female grizzly and one of her two cubs were hit by a train. Both eventually died. The second cub, left alone, returned to the tracks and was killed by a train 12 hours later.

This is a crucial time of year for bear feeding. Parks Canada says bears are now moving toward valley bottoms to look for food to replenish their fat reserves.

And spilled grain from trains enticing animals to railway corridors has been a long-standing problem in Canada's flagship national park.

But it doesn't appear grain was a factor in this case. There was no grain on the tracks, and no grain was found in the bear's stomach or intestinal tract when a necropsy was performed on Friday, Michel said.

Breanne Feigel, a spokeswoman for Canadian Pacific, called the bear's death "a sad situation," and a difficult one for the train's crew. She said they tried to scare the bear off the tracks by sounding the horn and whistle.

Feigel said her company is moving quickly in its $20-million initiative to replace 6,300 hopper gates - a part of the bottom opening of a train car - to reduce grain spillage.

The company also operates vacuum trucks to capture any grain that does escape, and has a policy of not storing grain in the park.

"CP is actually quite proactive with its strategies within parks," Feigel said.

There are no more than 60 grizzly bears in Banff National Park. Outside the national parks, it's believed Alberta has less than 500 grizzlies.

University of Calgary biologist Robert Barclay said the grizzly's death is a significant loss, but far more grizzlies die due to poachers or habitat destruction.

Even with Canadian Pacific's efforts, he said, "if we're going to have railways and we're going to have bears, this is just going to happen every so often."

He added that it's amazing the bears don't hear the trains coming. "The bear must have a one-track mind," Barclay said.

Nigel Douglas of the Alberta Wilderness Association said it's admirable that Canadian Pacific has taken steps to reduce grain spills. But he said any company that operates in a national park holds a great responsibility.

"The onus is on them now. They're operating in that area now and trains are killing grizzly bears. So what are they going to do about it?" Douglas said.

Judging from the grizzly's teeth and other indicators, Michel said the bear was about 10 years old--about half its likely lifespan in the wild.

And there were no holes in its ears, no molars extracted and no indication the animal had met up with humans before.

Michel said the grizzly's death is a loss to the whole Rocky Mountain ecosystem.

"A large mature male like this in his prime, obviously of excellent genetics, would be contributing a lot to the grizzly bear population in terms of being a dominant breeding animal."

(This item appeared May 18, 2009, in The Calgary Herald.)