endangered list . Conservationists believe hundreds of gray wolves straying from Yellowstone in search of prey could soon be killed by hunters and ranchers . Watch rancher say no wolf is `` sacred '' '' `` We 're not ready to pop the champagne corks and have a party , '' said Doug Honnold , the managing attorney for Earthjustice , a non-profit environmental law firm based in Oakland , California , that has threatened to sue the government . `` My biggest fear is we 're going to go backwards instead of forwards . '' It would n't be the first time . In the early 20th century , wolves were the targets of a massive government extermination campaign . `` It 's harder to find an animal more persecuted than wolves . ... We did wolf extermination with a vengeance , '' said Smith . But attitudes began to change in the 1980s . Elk and bison populations increased dramatically because there was no natural predator to keep their numbers in check . In 1995 , Smith led a team to bring wolves back to the Rocky Mountain landscape . They transplanted dozens of wolves to Yellowstone from
YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK , Montana -LRB- CNN -RRB- -- The gray wolf was officially removed from the Endangered Species Act 's `` threatened '' list Friday after three decades -- a decision that has stoked controversy among environmentalists and ranchers . Federal officials estimate there are 1,500 gray wolves in Yellowstone National Park . It means the wolves can be shot and killed once they step out of Yellowstone National Park as soon as the affected states establish a hunting season . However , state Fish and Wildlife officials can shoot the animals whenever they deem the wolves to be a problem . The government delisted the wolves -- which were eliminated from Yellowstone decades ago before being reintroduced in the 1990s -- because they are now thriving in the park that is dominated by bison , elk and bighorn sheep . `` They 're back here in the Northern Rockies ; they 're back here in Yellowstone , '' said Doug Smith , a biologist for the National Park Service in Yellowstone . `` That 's something to celebrate given their history of human hatred . '' But not everyone is happy about the animal being removed from the