By Laura Zuckerman
SALMON, Idaho, Oct 11 (Reuters) - Conservationists on
Thursday asked a state judge to end trapping of wolverines in
Montana at a time when fewer than 300 of the elusive animals
roam the Northern Rockies and Northern Cascades.
Montana is the only one of the lower 48 U.S. states that
permits the harvesting of wolverines, carnivores that resemble
small bears with bushy tails. They are sought for their fur.
Allowing licensed sportsmen to kill woverines is a direct
violation of Montana's state policy of maintaining or restoring
populations of rare animals, the conservationists argued in a
lawsuit filed on Thursday in state court in Montana.
Federal biologists estimate that between 250 and 300
wolverines remain in the high country of Idaho, Montana,
Washington and Wyoming.
The civil court fight comes two years after the U.S. Fish
and Wildlife Service moved to protect wolverines because warming
climates threaten the mountain snows they use for dens and food
storage. A final decision on whether wolverines are granted
threatened or endangered status was expected by 2014.
In Montana, trappers each year are allowed to catch five
wolverines - reduced from 10 in 2008.
The lawsuit was filed on Thursday by Alliance for the Wild
Rockies and seven other conservation groups is an effort to stop
trapping altogether in Montana.
Ron Aasheim, spokesman for Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks,
said state wildlife managers believe the trapping each year of
five wolverines is sustainable. He said the state halved the
trapping quota in recognition that "we needed to do some things
to ensure long-term viability."
Michael Garrity, head of Alliance for the Wild Rockies, said
scaling back the harvest was not sufficient.
"The state doesn't want to admit wolverines are almost
extinct," he said.
Wolverines are known for their voracious appetites and
cantankerous dispositions. Their solitary nature and their
preference for extreme alpine environments have made it
difficult for scientists to estimate population numbers.
Climate change was predicted to reduce suitable wolverine
habitat in the lower 48 states by 23 percent as of 2045 and by
63 percent as of 2099, according to the University of Washington
and the U.S. Forest Service Rocky Mountain Research Station.
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