‘Ban use of poisons’:

Environmental and animal-welfare groups on Tuesday filed a lawsuit claiming the U.S. government is violating the Endangered Species Act by allowing the use of two predatorkilling poisons employed by federal workers on rural Western lands to protect livestock.

The lawsuit filed in federal court in Montana by the Center for Biological Diversity and others seeks an immediate ban of the poisons where they could harm federally protected species including grizzly bears and Canada lynx.

One kind of device, called an M-44, is embedded into in the ground and looks like a lawn sprinkler but sprays cyanide when triggered by animals attracted by bait smeared on the devices.

A 14-year-old Idaho boy was injured last month when he checked one out with his dog on federally-owned land near his house on the outskirts of the small city of Pocatello. His Labrador retriever dog died. (AP)