Judge Blasts USF&WS, Says Endangered Red Wolves Can't Be Shot

"The federal agency gave up on reviving red wolves, but a federal judge may have just saved them."

"The critically endangered American red wolf might have been saved from extinction Monday.

In a scathing court decision Monday, a federal judge in North Carolina ripped the Interior Department’s management of the last red wolf population in the wild, saying that an agency sworn to uphold a congressional mandate to preserve the animals violated it over and over, and even gave private landowners the right to shoot them.

Chief Judge Terrence W. Boyle reminded the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, which gave the authorization, of its own statement in 1999. “Wildlife are not the property of landowners but belong to the public and are managed by state and federal governments for the public good,” he wrote."

Darryl Fears reports for the Washington Post November 5, 2018.

SEE ALSO:

"Judge Blocks Feds’ Effort To Shrink Red Wolf Territory" (AP)

"Federal Government Violated Endangered Species Act By Ending Red Wolf Protections, Judge Rules" (Raleigh News & Observer)

Source: Washington Post, 11/06/2018