The train, you see, had apparently hit a wild bison at full speed, and the impact damaged the engine so badly that it had to be towed away for repairs. For a long time, I thought such things only happened in places like rural India, but I learned a few years ago that wildlife and infrastructure do not mix anywhere on the planet. The FAA estimates that wildlife strikes have cost U.S. civil aviation about $272 million a year on average between 1990 and 2025.