ST. PAUL — Opponents of wolf hunting and trapping are petitioning the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources to stop this year’s hunt.

The DNR set up a wolf hunt season after the federal government took the gray wolves off the endangered list in January. But, Maureen Hackett of the opposition group Howling for Wolves says the DNR is moving too fast. Hackett said the wolf population is growing, but is still vulnerable.

The group is rallying at the DNR headquarters in St. Paul Thursday where they plan to file a petition against the hunt. The wolf population in Minnesota is estimated at 3,000. The DNR is allowing hunters and trappers to kill 400 wolves during a season that partially coincides with the gun deer hunt.