On July 18th, a judge in Missoula, Montana granted a preliminary injunction placing gray wolves in the Northern Rockies region back under federal protection until a court case challenging the removal of wolves from the federal list of endangered species is decided. This is in answer to a lawsuit filed by Earth Justice on behalf of a coalition of nonprofit groups challenging the decision by US Fish and Wildlife to take these wolves off the endangered species list. This is an incredible victory for the wolves, whose recovery was threatened by plans by the states of Idaho, Wyoming and Montana to cull up to 80% of the wolves in the regions. The fight’s not over yet, as this is only a temporary reprieve, but it’s wonderful news for the continued recovery of wolves.

Here are some links to articles about this decision (thanks to Alec for help with the links!):

Defenders of Wildlife's press release

and an article from The Missoulan