Wolves protected from hunts

A US federal judge has restored endangered species protections for grey wolves in the Northern Rocky Mountains, derailing plans by three states to hold public wolf hunts this autumn.

District judge Donald Molloy granted a preliminary injunction restoring the protections in Montana, Wyoming and Idaho. He will later decide whether the injunction will be permanent.

The region has an estimated 2,000 grey wolves. They were removed from the endangered species list in March, following a decade-long restoration effort.

Environmentalists sued to overturn that decision.

"There were fall hunts scheduled that would have called for as many as 500 wolves to be killed," said Doug Honnold of Earthjustice, who had argued the case for 12 environmental groups.