Today, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced plans to remove Endangered Species Act protections from America’s gray wolves—a move that would effectively declare “open season” on these beloved carnivores.
Thanks to the Endangered Species Act, wolves have begun to recover in the continental United States after humans trapped, poisoned, and shot them to the brink of extinction, yet they remain functionally extinct in many of the places where they used to live. Federal protections are still needed to help wolves return to their historic range. In Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming, where wolves have already lost federal protections, more than 3,200 wolves have been slaughtered in the last eight years.
“Now is not the time for the federal government to give in to powerful hunting and livestock interests and give up on wolf recovery,” said Taylor Jones, endangered species advocate for Guardians. “Wolves should remain listed until they are fully recovered and can take their place as key parts of a healthy ecosystem.”
Read the press release.
