Thanks to Guardians and the New Mexico Wilderness Alliance, wildlife killers can no longer get away with murder. On June 21, in response our challenge, a federal judge threw out the so-called “McKittrick Policy,” by which hunters could evade government prosecution if they claimed they did not know the identity of the endangered species they illegally killed.
The policy was especially devastating to the Mexican wolf, whose highest cause of mortality is illegal killing. Gray wolves—including Echo the Grand Canyon wolf, who was shot by a coyote hunter—whooping cranes, condors, and grizzly bears also numbered among its victims.
The judge’s ruling reaffirms that hunters are responsible for knowing their prey before they shoot to kill. We’re proud to have taken down this ethically bankrupt threat to the Endangered Species Act and the creatures it protects.
Read the press release.
