This story was updated at 3:33 p.m. EDT.
The Fish and Wildlife Service maintains that the gray wolf has recovered throughout the continental United States and no longer requires Endangered Species Act protections, a new court filing shows.
In a legal brief filed on its behalf Friday, the agency declared the gray wolf to be “one of the ESA’s biggest success stories” and asserted that the “best available science” showed wolves were not endangered or threatened even though the species no longer inhabits part of its historical range.
“It has made a remarkable recovery and now thrives in the continental United States in two large, expanding metapopulations that are also connected to large populations of wolves in Canada,” the brief signed by Justice Department attorney Amelia Yowell stated.
