The Center for Biological Diversity, the Humane Society of the United States, Humane Society Legislative Fund, and Sierra Club recently petitioned the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to restore federal protection for gray wolves under the Endangered Species Act. This follows Idaho and Montana passing legislation aimed at drastically reducing wolf populations.
“Idaho and Montana’s legislative directives to kill wolves by nearly any means possible seriously endanger wolf populations in the West,” Andrea Zaccardi, a senior attorney at the Center for Biological Diversity, said in a statement. “The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service should immediately return Endangered Species Act protections to these wolves to halt the impending statewide slaughters.”
As previously reported by WAN, Idaho’s legislature recently passed Senate Bill 1211, allowing the state to hire private contractors to kill up to 90{b8e52ae401ab4429f6a8b3e505e6a1121735214120d1305293475d9eee35ccfa} of Idaho’s wolf population. It also allows hunters and trappers to kill an unlimited number of wolves,