Wolves in the United States could remain under federal protection beyond the summer, or the time period originally targeted to officially remove them from the endangered species list (not counting select regions and species), the Associated Press reported.
A five-person peer review panel questioned evidence used to justify wolves' status change, from federally protected to state regulated (allowing farmers to shoot them if they threaten livestock).
The original recommendation was based on taxonomical analysis that endangered gray wolves (which will remain on the list) weren't present in the Northeast and the Midwest, where non-threatened wolves called "eastern wolves" supposedly live, according to the AP. Thus, under the current proposal, those areas were to be governed based on the assumption of healthy, non-endangered populations. Now that gray wolves may still be present -- or if there is no difference between gray and eastern wolves -- it changes how those regions are to be regulated.
Possibly, the original assessment was correct -- gray and eastern wolves are different species and there aren't any grays in the Midwest and the Northeast -- and only the techniques used to draw those conclusions weren't up to scientific standards. If that is the case, perhaps a resolution will be reached by this summer.
If it isn't, there's no telling how long it could take, a positive for those fighting for wolves to remain protected, and, of course, a negative for politicians and farmers hoping to knock them off the list.
Under similiar logic, gray wolves will not be given endangered species status in California because there aren't any confirmed populations, only the few random ones that sometimes roam into its borders, according to indybay.org. Scientists across the state have questioned that ruling, arguing that the wolves should at least have protection in case they establish a population.
