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BILLINGS (AP) - A federal judge in Missoula has ordered gray wolves in the Northern Rockies be returned to the endangered species list, halting state hunting seasons proposed for this fall.

U.S. District Judge Donald Molloy granted a preliminary injunction Friday, restoring federal protections for the wolves.

The predator was removed from the endangered species list in March, following a decade-long restoration effort. Environmentalists sued to overturn the decision.

Officials in Montana, Wyoming and Idaho have been moving forward with plans for public hunts. Molloy’s ruling is expected to derail those plans.

The region has an estimated 2,000 wolves, a population that has been soaring and increasingly preying on livestock.

Conservation groups said they were thrilled with Molloy’s decision.

“We think this is a great day for gray wolves in the Northern Rockies,” said Jenny Harbine, an attorney for Earthjustice, which is representing the plaintiffs. “We are pleased the court agreed with us that wolves are deserving of the protections of the Endangered Species Act.”

The preliminary injunction, which can be appealed, reinstates federal protection for gray wolves in the Northern Rockies pending the outcome of the lawsuit.

No date has been set for the suit, which seeks to keep the federal protection in place until wolves reach a “meta-population” of several thousand animals that have a healthy genetic exchange across the three states.

The injunction also puts on hold the wolf hunting seasons that Montana, Idaho and Wyoming planned for this fall.

“We hope this preliminary injunction becomes permanent,” Harbine said. “As long as the injunction in place, there will be no wolf hunts. Today’s ruling just demonstrates another reason why state wolf hunts are premature.”

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