Senators urge emergency protections for wolves in US West

BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — A group of Democratic lawmakers are urging the Biden administration to enact emergency protections for gray wolves in the U.S. West.

Twenty-one U.S. senators asked Interior Sec. Deb Haaland to shield wolves from being killed for 240 days while permanent protections are considered.  

Thursday's request comes in response to Republican-backed state laws in Montana and Idaho that make it easier to kill the predators.

Wolves in recent decades bounced back from widespread extermination last century.

But their return has drawn complaints from hunters and farmers because wolf packs prey on deer and elk herds and periodically kill livestock.