Ruling that blocked grizzly bear hunts appealed by U.S.

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U.S. government attorneys filed notice last Friday that they are appealing a court ruling that blocked the first public hunts of grizzly bears in the Northern Rockies in decades.

The appeal challenges a judge's ruling that restored threatened species protections for more than 700 bears in and around Yellowstone National Park.

A grizzly bear near Beaver Lake in Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, U.S. /AP Photo

The grizzly bear is a large population of the brown bear inhabiting North America. Scientists generally do not use the name grizzly bear but call it the North American brown bear. In 2002, grizzly bears were listed as threatened in the contiguous U.S., under the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

Protections for the animals had been removed in 2017. When the ruling from U.S. District Judge Dana Christensen came down in October, Wyoming and Idaho were on the cusp of hosting their first public hunts for grizzly bears in the Lower 48 U.S. states since 1991.

A grizzly bear "practices yoga" in Alaska, U.S. /VCG Photo

Federal biologists contend Yellowstone-area grizzlies have made a full recovery after a decades-long restoration effort. They want to turn over management of the animals to state wildlife agencies that say hunting is one way to better address rising numbers of bear attacks on livestock.

But wildlife advocates and the Crow Indian Tribe successfully sued to stop the hunts. Their attorneys persuaded Christensen that despite the recovery of bears in Yellowstone, the species remains in peril elsewhere because of continued threats from climate change and habitat loss.

A grizzly bear "practices yoga" in Alaska, U.S. /VCG Photo

The Yellowstone population has rebounded from just 136 animals when they were granted federal protections in 1975.

Grizzlies in recent years have returned to many areas where they were absent for decades. That has meant more dangerous run-ins with people, such as a Wyoming hunting guide who was killed this fall in a grizzly attack.

Christensen's ruling marked the second time the government has sought to lift protections for Yellowstone bears only to be reversed in court.

A grizzly bear "practices yoga" in Alaska, U.S. /VCG Photo

The agency initially declared a successful recovery for the Yellowstone population in 2007. But a federal judge ordered protections to remain while wildlife officials studied whether the decline of a major food source — whitebark pine seeds — could threaten the bears' survival. The Fish and Wildlife Service concluded last year it had addressed that and all other threats.

Last Friday's appeal signals that at least for now the court battle over grizzlies will grind on.

Source(s): AP