落基山脉灰狼生活在素有北美洲“脊梁”的落基山脉地区,作为世界上最大的犬科动物,落基山灰狼曾经生活得逍遥自在。然而近年来生活环境的急剧恶化使落基山灰狼逐渐面临灭绝的危险。
, l( Z c2 f4 [ A federal judge has ordered the US to put Rocky Mountain grey wolves back on a list of protected endangered species.
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& I& {3 @4 i. w* v8 x: E Encouraged by the recovery of the once nearly-extinct wolf, the US last year moved to allow wolf hunts in two states while protecting them in a third.
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But a judge ruled the law did not permit the US to protect part of a species population while allowing hunting of the rest.
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" z/ _1 j! A; V: N7 N1 T Despite the ruling, Idaho said it would seek federal approval for a wolf hunt.
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/ M( ^& R3 a! A. V# k7 c The decision puts wolves in the states of Montana and Idaho back on the endangered species list following their removal last year.. w3 a" P5 `9 |6 c/ [: j
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Wyoming's wolves had remained protected because the US government was unsatisfied with the state's wolf protection plan.; r( V! ~7 ~1 |' D% ~. {$ C$ b
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In Montana, US District Judge Donald Molloy came down on the side of a coalition of conservation groups who had challenged the US Fish and Wildlife Service's move to take the grey wolf off the endangered species list in Montana and Idaho.! M% [, v% W4 W2 B
, o7 B& G( @4 {% q9 G Among several arguments, the coalition said the law did not permit the Fish and Wildlife Service to "partially delist" protected species - protecting the wolf in one state but not others.
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2 v% ^# i( S5 a Significant protection/ e+ ^: h7 G: p7 B' q1 U
" L4 U' a- A. y: ^ "The plain language of the Endangered Species Act does not allow the agency to divide a [population segment] into a smaller taxonomy," Judge Molloy wrote.
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, n6 h; o, E- Q) B7 _& n/ Y Grey wolves were once abundant in the US, but a government-sponsored hunting programme nearly eradicated them. The wolves were gone from Montana, Idaho, Wyoming and south-western Canada by the 1930s.6 U- x" U; M2 q
& P5 d; ^7 ~3 ` The US passed the Endangered Species Act in 1973 and the wolf was listed as endangered in 1974, affording it significant protection from hunters.3 A; N+ g1 ^+ J7 G: k- M. _
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In the 1990s, the government reintroduced wild wolf populations into the northern Rocky Mountains, situated in the western US.! _$ k4 t* M) B- K' J
/ `) ]4 y1 m0 C8 V& I4 C Powerful ranching interests in the states concerned have opposed protection of the wolves, saying they threaten livestock. |