Federal protections sought for mustangs in Montana mountains

Matthew Brown, Associated Press
Updated 5:41 pm, Wednesday, April 4, 2018



BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — Animal rights advocates announced a lawsuit against the federal government on Wednesday in a bid to make a Montana mustang population the first group of wild horses to be protected under the Endangered Species Act.

A prior attempt to secure protections for wild horses across the western U.S. as imperiled wildlife failed. But supporters of the idea said they're hopeful to succeed this time by concentrating their efforts on a single population they say is genetically unique.

The Pryor Mountain Wild Horse Range just north of the Wyoming border is home to about 155 mustangs believed to be descended from the mounts of Spanish conquistadors who came to North America in the 1500s.

Attorneys for Friends of Animals argued in the lawsuit that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service violated federal law by failing to act on a petition filed last June seeking protections for the animals. The petition was rejected on a technicality because the group submitted it to the federal agency without first notifying Montana officials as was required.

More:
https://www.chron.com/news/us/article/Advocacy-group-seeks-federal-protection-for-12805382.php