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Yellowstone grizzly bears to lose endangered species protections

Grizzly bears in Yellowstone National Park are set to lose their endangered species protection after US officials ruled the population is no longer threatened.

The move means hunts will be allowed from July.

Grizzlies have been protected since 1975, when there were just 136 bears in and around Yellowstone, across all continental US states except Alaska.

The US Fish and Wildlife Service has decided the size of the population, which is now at around 700, has increased enough to no longer need further protection.

Announcing the change in classification, Interior Secretary Ryan Zink said: "This achievement stands as one of America's great conservation successes."

Removing grizzlies as a threatened species was first proposed by the Obama administration in March 2016.

Jurisdiction over the Yellowstone grizzlies will now pass to the states which contain the park - Montana, Idaho and Wyoming - in early July.

The bears' territory extends beyond the park's boundaries and states will now be allowed to plan a limited number of bear hunts outside, as long as the number does not fall below 600.

Hunting bears inside the park itself would still be banned.

The move to allow hunts has been met with opposition from wildlife advocates and Native American tribal officials.

Some 125 tribes have signed a treaty opposing hunting the bears, which Native Americans consider a sacred animal.

There used to be about 50,000 grizzly bears ranging over large parts of North America but their population dropped substantially in the 1850s due to widespread hunting and trapping.