The US Fish and Wildlife Service has proposed that grizzlies in the Yellowstone area be removed from the list of threatened species. Photo / AP 
A US Government plan to lift protections for grizzly bears in and around Yellowstone National Park has been slammed by environmentalists and Indian tribes.

Much of the discontent has focused on the prospect of grizzlies in the region becoming open to trophy hunting under state management plans put in place once federal safeguards are removed under the Endangered Species Act.

The US Fish and Wildlife Service formally proposed in March that grizzlies in the Yellowstone area - spanning parts of Wyoming, Montana and Idaho - be removed from the list of threatened species, citing data showing their numbers have rebounded to healthy levels.

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