Wolves to be removed from endangered species list

 

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will remove the gray wolf from the endangered species list. 

Between 1995 and ‘96, 66 wolves were reintroduced to Yellowstone National Park and now almost 13 years later, 1,500 wolves live in the Northern Rockies, according to the Fish and Wildlife Service.

A strange component of this story is, “that means that in some areas sport hunting of wolves will be allowed, perhaps as soon as this fall,” according to a USA Today article.  It seems illogical that in less than a year, a species could go from being endangered to legally hunted.

 “Americans will howl with rage when they learn that their government is jeopardizing this iconic animal,” said NRDC’s Louisa Willcox. “Why snatch defeat from the jaws of victory when we’ve made so much progress toward recovering wolves in the Greater Yellowstone region?” according to a NRDC press release

Thousands of gray wolves roamed the Rocky Mountains before being slaughtered and eliminated from 95 percent of the lower 48 states by the 1930s. The gray wolf was listed as endangered under the Endangered Species Act in 1973.

Filed under Endangered Species |