Starting today, hundreds of gray wolves in the Northern Rockies and parts of Greater Yellowstone are no longer protected under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). Without these life-saving protections, more than 1,000 wolves could be killed -- the most significant wolf massacre in the lower 48 United States since the last century.

You’ll recall that the famous Yellowstone wolf Limpy was shot and killed the very morning that the Bush/Cheney administration first lifted protections. Dozens more wolves suffered the same fate before Defenders persuaded a federal judge to restore protections.

And now with Interior Secretary Ken Salazar’s deadly decision, we’re again in court. The stakes are so high, so please help save these wolves and other imperiled animals as a Wildlife Guardian.

Defenseless wolf pups will soon be emerging from their dens. Hundreds of wolves -- including pups as young as five months of age -- could be killed by a wolf hunt that Idaho has approved. In fact, Idaho Governor C.L. “Butch” Otter has even publicly declared that he wants to shoot the first wolf himself!

Extremists like Idaho Anti-Wolf Coalition head Ron Gillette have even gone so far as to label wolves as terrorists at public meetings, calling for dramatic action to eliminate wolves -- a vital part of healthy ecosystems in the Northern Rockies.

We need your compassionate help to save these wolves.

Our wolf-saving efforts don’t begin or end at the courthouse doors.

Defenders of Wildlife’s on-the-ground wolf conservation experts are gearing up for this summer’s wolf-saving work, preparing effective projects that use proven, common-sense non-lethal deterrents to keep wolves away from livestock… and alive.

And we’re also working with biologists, ranchers, farmers, hunters, tribal leaders and others in an ambitious effort to raise awareness about the gray wolf’s important role in the American West and ensure a lasting future for these magnificent animals.

Please become a Wildlife Guardian today and help support these and other vital efforts to save the lives of wolves and safeguard the future of healthy wolf populations in Greater Yellowstone and the Northern Rockies.

Time is of the essence. I hope we can count on your support to save wolves from the guns of Butch Otter and his henchmen.