Federal Approval of Grizzly Bear Killing Blocked by 10th Circuit

The federal government can’t allow the killing of up to 72 grizzly bears in western Wyoming to protect cattle and other livestock, the Tenth Circuit found—reversing a lower court’s decision that greenlighted the approval.

The US Fish and Wildlife Service’s biological opinion failed to consider including a lethal take—or killing—limit of female grizzly bears, which could result in enough female deaths to jeopardize the grizzly bear population in the area, a three-judge panel on the US Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit said Thursday.

“Lethal takes of 72 bears would be approximately double the number of bears that had ...