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Federal protections sought for mustangs in Montana mountains

Billings, Mont. • Animal rights advocates announced a lawsuit against the federal government on Wednesday in a bid to make a Montana mustang population the first group of wild horses to be protected under the Endangered Species Act.

A prior attempt to secure protections for wild horses across the western U.S. as imperiled wildlife failed. But supporters of the idea said they’re hopeful to succeed this time by concentrating their efforts on a single population they say is genetically unique.

The Pryor Mountain Wild Horse Range just north of the Wyoming border is home to about 155 mustangs believed to be descended from the mounts of Spanish conquistadors who came to North America in the 1500s.