The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has finalized a new rule that removes a population cap for endangered Mexican gray wolves in the Southwest.
Officials had previously limited the species to 325 animals in Arizona and New Mexico.
But a 2018 court decision forced the agency to rewrite parts of its management plan for the wolves.
Fish and Wildlife will also temporarily halt some forms of federal, state and private wolf-killing.
Wolf advocates have applauded parts of the new rule, but say it lacks some reforms needed to increase genetic diversity of the species by releasing captive-born adult wolves into the wild.
Federal and state wildlife officials have relied on placing captive-born pups into wild dens to diversify the animal’s genetics with mixed success.