"Conservation groups sued a branch of the U.S. Department of Agriculture on Tuesday, accusing its agents of violating a federal environmental law when they killed a protected female breeding wolf in Washington state.

Groups represented by the Western Law Environmental Center say the USDA's Wildlife Services agency indiscriminately shot, trapped and poisoned animals to benefit the agricultural industry, and failed to conduct in-depth analyses of its actions as required by U.S. law.

Conservationists are asking a federal judge to stop Wildlife Services from conducting further missions like the one last year in Washington state in which its agents erroneously shot and killed the female leader of a wolf pack after mistaking it for another wolf marked for death for attacking livestock."

Laura Zuckerman reports for Reuters March 3, 2015. [2]