A federal judge has reversed a decision made by the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources to allow the hunting of wolves in the state.

Minnesota DNR contact Chris Niskanen says effective immediately; Minnesotans can no longer legally kill a wolf with the exception being in the defense of human life.

This decision was handed down as a federal judge decided to reinstate the Endangered Species Act protections for the gray wolf in Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Michigan.

Wolf status in Minnesota is now returned to its former federal protection. Wolves are federally classified as threatened in the state and endangered elsewhere in the Great Lakes region.