Judge Asked to Force Decision on US Wolverine Protections

BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — Wildlife advocates want a U.S. judge to force the government into deciding if the snow-loving wolverine should be federally protected as it becomes vulnerable to a warming planet.

The request came in a lawsuit filed Wednesday, almost four years after the judge ordered wildlife officials to take swift action to protect the rare animal.

Also known as “mountain devils,” wolverines are fierce but elusive predators once found throughout the Rocky Mountains.

They were wiped out across most of the U.S. by the 1930s following unregulated trapping and poisoning campaigns.

An estimated 250 to 300 wolverines survive in the lower 48 states, with populations also in Alaska and Canada.