Judge blocks Yellowstone grizzly hunt, says feds shouldn't have taken the bears off the endangered species list

"The Matriarch" is Thomas Mangelsen's
most famous photo of Grizzly No. 399.

On Monday a federal judge in Montana reversed a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service decision to allow the hunting of grizzly bears in and around Yellowstone National Park. "The order, issued by U.S. District Judge Dana Christensen, effectively cancels what was to be the first bear hunt in the lower 48 states since 1991," Tim Stelloh reports for NBC News. "Christensen temporarily blocked the planned hunt in Wyoming and Idaho last month, two days before the season’s opening day."

Ruling in lawsuits filed by Native American tribes and wildlife advocates, Christensen wrote that her decision wasn't about the "ethics of hunting," but because she believed the FWS "failed to make a reasoned decision" in deciding Yellowstone grizzlies were no longer an endangered species. She also wrote that the agency didn't consider the impact hunting Yellowstone grizzlies would have on five other bear populations in the U.S., which it was required to do, and that its analysis of threats to the roughly 700 Yellowstone grizzlies was "arbitrary and capricious."

Wyoming issued 22 hunting permits and Idaho issued one for the anticipated hunt. Some of those hunters had their sights on Grizzly No. 399, made iconic by acclaimed wildlife photographer Thomas Mangelsen. On 60 Minutes Sunday night, Mangelsen talked about how he had documented almost every facet of No. 399's life for more than a decade, including her giving birth to three sets of triplets and two sets of twins. He said, "There's people here who have said that they can't wait for a season to open so they can shoot 399 because that would be the biggest prize, the biggest trophy."

More than 7,000 people entered a lottery to receive one of the 22 hunting permits in Wyoming. Mangelsen put his name in and, against the odds, snagged one. He said that if the hunt were allowed to proceed, he would only shoot with a camera.