In the early morning hours of Friday, January 25, a herd of elk was hit by a train traveling between Montpelier and Soda Springs. No people were injured in the collision.
Conservation officers from the Idaho Department of Fish and Game arrived at the scene and dispatched injured animals as well as coordinated the removal of the carcasses from the railroad tracks. A total of 31 elk were killed of which ten were salvageable and distributed to members of the community. A local citizen volunteered his time and front-end loader to load salvageable elk into people’s trucks.
Trains hitting herds of big game animals are not common occurrences in the region.