Residents living in British Columbia The Village of Radium Hot Springs are pushing for change as bighorn sheep in the area are being hit and killed by vehicles at an alarming rate.

“It’s a really amazing group of wild animals,” said resident Nicole Trigg. “You just see them day in and day out, and you really develop a soft spot for them.”

Since moving to the area three years ago, Trigg has noticed that there seem to be more and more sheep being found dead on the highway.

“It’s devastating,” she said.

This prompted Trigg to create a Facebook page highlighting the apparent spike in bighorn sheep deaths, called Help the Radium Bighorn Herd.

Now Trigg and her friends are administrators of the page, which has more than 300 followers.

The purpose of the page is to draw attention to the herd, whose number fell to 120 last year.

“Last week has been devastating,” Trigg said Monday. “We had four (bighorn sheep) killed in five days.”

“We have two confirmed hits or impacts in the past week in which we don’t know what happened to those sheep.

“We don’t know what happens to them, if they wander off, if they get hurt it could shorten their lifespan, they could end up dying somewhere else, and we just don’t know.”

She noted that there are also bighorn shots that go unreported.

WHY ARE DEATHS RISING?

There are a number of reasons why things seem to be getting deadlier for animals.

“It’s a tough winter. There’s a pretty deep snowpack, and right now where they normally graze in the winter is deep snow with a thick layer of ice. For the bighorn sheep , it takes a lot of energy to wade and reach the grass, so what they ended up doing was congregating on the slopes of Radium Hill because the grass is still exposed,” said Trigg.

“Also, we have salt on the highway, and the combination of exposed grass and salt creates a crisis whenever there are sheep on the highway trying to feed and drivers try to climb the hill.”

Radium Hot Springs Village Mayor Clara Reinhardt says this is a serious problem for both the herd and drivers in the area.

“The last three months have been ridiculous. It’s really exceptional what’s going on right now.”

“There have been a lot of complaints over the last few years about the conditions on the highway – that they are too slippery, that the contractors are not doing their job early enough – and so there is a lot of attention for s “making sure things are de-iced, and that includes using brines. And there’s a lot of science behind that, but it also attracts critters – especially bighorn sheep.”

“There’s actually research going on into other options, but again there’s a science behind it, because it has to be effective at the right temperatures, it has to be non-threatening to the environment – or less. threatening. I’m a defend whatever works.”

Trigg also says the area has seen more visitors thanks to the diversion of the Trans-Canada Highway between Golden, B.C. and Castle Junction, as work continues to twinning the Kicking Horse Canyon Highway.

University of British Columbia wildlife scientist Clayton Lamb said the region’s declining bighorn sheep population is definitely concerning.

“There are only about 140 sheep in this herd, and we see roughly more than 10% of those sheep killed by collisions alone every year, and then we also lose sheep to disease, and so we see that decrease of the sheep population over time.

“We’re definitely seeing declines, so we’re not heading in the right direction.”

Lamb noted that the problem impacts both animals and humans.

“Not only is it bad for the sheep, but of course there are people who are dealing with the consequences of this both financially and physically,” Lamb said. “Our vehicles are hit, it interrupts our journey on the highway, and then people are injured.

“Solving the problem would be one of those win-win situations where we can make this area work a little better for the sheep and for the people.”

FUNDRAISING FOR A VIADUCT

The town of Radium hopes an overpass can be built to help the bighorn sheep cross the highway safely.

Speaking to CTV, Reinhardt said the money was originally allocated to create an underpass, but scientists recommended the sheep needed an overpass instead.

“So now we have to find more money,” she said.

Efforts are currently underway to raise the remaining funds needed to construct the viaduct.

“The Village of Radium is working on a plan, where if people want to donate money and get tax receipts, we will be updating our website in the next few weeks to allow people that opportunity. They can go to our site Web – RadiumHotsprings.ca — and get the information they need to donate for the overpass to make it happen faster.”

Reinhardt said the overpass and fence would cost between $4 million and $5 million.

CTV has contacted the Department of Transportation and Infrastructure for comment on the matter, but has not yet received a response.

– With files by Kevin Green