Court rules against delisting gray wolf

A gray wolf
A gray wolf in the wild. A court has overturned the federal government's decision to remove the wolf from the endangered species list.
Photo courtesy of the Minnesota DNR

A federal court has overturned the government's decision to remove the gray wolf from the endangered species list for the Great Lakes region.

The ruling Monday was in response to a lawsuit filed by several environmental groups, including The Humane Society of the United States.

The U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., says the 2007 decision by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service was not supported by the federal Endangered Species Act.

The ruling affects wolves in Michigan, Minnesota and Wisconsin.

The decision comes nearly a week after the agency asked a judge in Montana to place gray wolves in the Northern Rockies back on the endangered list after proposing to remove them earlier this year.

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