A gray wolf (illustration).

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Henry AUSLOOS / SIPA

Wolves will no longer be a protected species in the United States.

The Trump administration thus revokes a classification put in place since 1978 after the virtual extinction of the species.

Wolves can now be hunted more.

The announcement made this Thursday comes a few days before the presidential election on November 3, when many Republican elected officials in the Midwest, crucial electoral land, demanded the removal of the wolf from the protected list.

The population would have risen to 6,000

“After more than 45 years under protected status, the gray wolf has exceeded all conservation targets for its recovery,” said Home Secretary David Bernhardt.

According to his department, the wolf population in the United States (excluding Alaska and Hawaii) has thus risen to 6,000 against less than 1,000 in 1967.

The wolf redeveloped in the Rocky Mountain region and began to return to the West.

Under the presidency of Barack Obama, he had already lost his protected status in Idaho and Montana.

It will now be up to states to decide how to manage wolf populations, whether or not they authorize hunting and traps.

Only the "Mexican wolf", present in the Southwest, will remain protected at the federal level.

Many oppositions

The scientific community and a large number of elected officials, citizens and activists opposed the revocation.

For them, the wolf has not yet regained all of its historical habitat.

The NGO Earthjustice has vowed to challenge the ruling, accusing the federal animal welfare agency of failing to follow normal scientific procedures.

"Shocked and saddened" by the decision, Jane Goodall, famous animal lawyer and primate specialist, explained that wolves could no longer expand their territories due to hunting and traps.

"Wolves have the same consciousness, emotions and intelligence as dogs, if not more," she said in a video.

"How would you react if your dog was shot to have someone hang his head on a wall?"

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Note that thirteen species have lost their protected status since 2017 under the Trump administration.

The list includes a bat, a gecko or even a vole.

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