ling classifies Minnesota wolves as threatened

Effective immediately, Minnesotans can no longer legally kill a wolf except in the defense of human life.

A federal judge’s decision to immediately reinstate Endangered Species Act protections for gray wolves in Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan place the animals under protection of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

Wolves now revert to the federal protection status they had prior to being removed from the endangered species list in the Great Lakes region in January 2012. That means wolves now are federally classified as threatened in Minnesota and endangered elsewhere in the Great Lakes region.

Only agents of the government are authorized to take wolves if depredation occurs.