Drunk Grizzlies Keep Getting Hit By Trains In Montana [View all]

Drunk Grizzlies Keep Getting Hit By Trains In Montana

Since 1980, 63 grizzlies have been hit by trains and killed along a section of railroad near Glacier National Park. Many died because they got drunk on fermented grain spilled from railcars and couldn’t move fast enough to outrun the trains.

Mark Heinz
November 04, 2023
5 min read



A grizzly bear grazes for spilt grain on the train tracks in Banff National Park, Alberta, Canada. Since 1980 in Montana, 68 grizzlie, many "drunk" on fermented grain, have been killed by trains. (Getty Images)

Getting “drunk” on fermented grain has killed dozens of grizzly bears along a treacherous stretch of rail line near Glacier National Park, Montana.

Since 1980, 63 bears have been killed along a stretch of rail line that goes over Marias Pass and the Great Bear Wilderness, according to reports from state and federal wildlife agencies. The worst year on record was 2019, when eight grizzlies were killed by trains, and three have been killed so far this year.

Many of them likely died during a “drunken attempt” to outrun the trains, a Wyoming bear expert said. … Grain spilled from railcars along the tracks can be a tempting treat for bears, retired federal ecologist Chuck Neal of Cody told Cowboy State Daily.

With enough moisture from snow and rain, “the spilled grain actually ferments in place and becomes a de facto brewery,” he said.

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