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Three bison carcasses were seen near kilometre 76 on Highway 3 on Sunday. They are believed to have been killed in collisions with vehicles driving the highway. - photo courtesy of George Lessard

SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
Watch out for bison on the highways.

This is the message told to motorists during a checkstop last weekend on Highway 3 by participating RCMP, Department of Environment and Natural Resources (ENR), and Department of Transportation officers.

The number of bison-vehicle collisions is up this year, with eight reported to ENR within the past month, as compared to four or five during the same period last year, said ENR spokesperson Judy McLinton.

"People have to be aware that there are bison on the highway and they should drive the speed limit and watch out for them," she said. "This is the bad time of year because it gets dark and now with the (Deh Cho) bridge, there are people driving in the middle of the night where they wouldn't be before because the ferry would be out."

Yellowknifer George Lessard went through the bison checkstop near Behchoko on Sunday. Shortly thereafter, at kilometre 76, he came upon a grisly sight: a highway half-covered in dried blood and three bison carcasses on the side of the road.

The carcasses appeared to have been picked over by eagles, ravens and other scavengers.

"That was the first time I have ever seen roadkill like that," said Lessard.

Lessard said RCMP at the checkstop mentioned three bison had been hit by a truck, however the RCMP detachment could not confirm with Yellowknifer if any such incident had been reported.

McLinton also could not confirm what had happened to these particular bison, however, she stressed the importance of staying vigilant while driving the highway because this is peak season for bison-vehicle collisions.

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