Judge: USDA failed to justify Idaho wildlife-killing plans

A federal agency's justifications for killing coyotes and mountain lions and other predators in Idaho to protect livestock and other wildlife such as elk violate environmental laws because they lack a scientific review, a federal court has ruled. U.S. District Court Judge B. Lynn Winmill said the U.S. Department of Agriculture's reasons for not doing the scientific review "were not convincing or objective." The Agriculture Department's Wildlife Services kills and removes predators that kill livestock in many states, especially in the U.S. West. In Idaho, the agency killed nearly 4,000 coyotes in 2016.