The federal government will continue to protect Wisconsin’s nearly 1,000 gray wolves. That’s after a ruling Tuesday in which a federal appeals court said the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service acted prematurely in removing wolves from Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Michigan from the endangered species’ list.
All three states reintroduced the animal the last few decades, and they now total about 3,800, but animal rights’ groups say wolves are still missing from 90 percent of their historic ranges, and the appellate ruling showed that “we can’t ignore the loss.”
The court sided with a district judge who ended Wisconsin’s management program that included a popular wolf hunt and the ruling stopped farmers from killing wolves that damage their livestock and farm crops.
House Republican Sean Duffy of Wausau asked the Trump White House to appeal Tuesday’s decision.