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 HELENA, Mont. (AP) - Grizzly bears in and around Yellowstone National Park no longer need Endangered Species Act protection, the federal government said Thursday. The area had an estimated 136 to 312 grizzlies when the species was listed as threatened in 1975, but has more than 500 of the bears today, the government said.
"The grizzly is a large predator that requires a great deal of space, and conserving such animals is a challenge in today's world," Deputy Interior Secretary Lynn Scarlett said in announcing the decision. "I believe all Americans should be proud that, as a nation, we had the will and the ability to protect and restore this symbol of the wild."
The Interior Department said in 2005 that it intended to delist grizzly bears around Yellowstone in the states of Idaho, Montana and Wyoming. The species remains protected in other parts of Idaho, Montana and Washington state; Alaska, where the bear was never threatened, is the only other place where the species roams.
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