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File photo of a Great Plains wolf. Environmental conservationists sought a court injunction bid to stop wolf hunts in Montana and Idaho on Monday. (Ingo Wagner/Getty Images)
Environmental conservationists sought a court injunction bid to stop wolf hunts in Montana and Idaho on Monday, according to media reports.
Judges are set to rule on bringing back federal protections for wolves in both states. The Alliance for the Wild Rockies (AWR) asked the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals to immediately halt wolf hunting before the ruling, according to The Missoulian newspaper.
It said that more than 200 wolves out of a population of between 1,300 and 1,600 were killed this year alone in the two states.
“The hearing on summary judgment is scheduled for Nov. 8, but you know they can take a long time to rule, a year or two,” AWR director Michael Garrity told the newspaper.
Wolf harvest figures are slated to climb even higher due to the start of the general rifle hunting season later this month.“If they [wolves] get listed again as endangered species, there’s more restrictions on (federal) wildlife services. Now they can kill them like coyotes,” Garrity added.
