Train hits herd of elk in southeast Idaho

A train killed 11 elk near Dingle in Bear Lake County, which is in Idaho’s southeastern corner, according to Idaho Fish and Game.

Conservation officers arrived at the scene early Sunday and determined 11 elk had been killed, Fish and Game reported.

Two injured elk were dispatched by Fish and Game officers, and the salvageable meat was donated to the community, which is south of Montpelier and about 100 miles southeast of Idaho Falls near both the Utah and Wyoming border.

The incident is the second this year of big game animals hit by trains in southern Idaho.

Fifty-nine pronghorn were reported killed when a train struck a herd of the animals in the morning Feb. 3 north of Hamer. Officers reported the train killed 45 animals and left 14 animals injured. The injured pronghorn were dispatched by officers.

A year ago, approximately 30 elk were killed by a train traveling northward between Montpelier and Soda Springs.

— Ralph Bartholdt