ANCHORAGE — Six conservation groups have asked the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to use an emergency endangered species listing to protect a population of southeast Alaska wolves.

The groups want hunting and trapping stopped the rest of the year for Alexander Archipelago wolves, which den in root systems of large trees and prey on Sitka black-tailed deer.

The wolves on Prince of Wales Island and neighboring islands are genetically distinct from other wolves in the Tongass National Forest.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is under a court mandate to make a final endangered species listing decision by Dec. 31.

Larry Edwards of Greenpeace in Sitka said Monday the population of Alexander Archipelago wolves has crashed and could be permanently harmed by four more months of poaching and legal hunting.