“Finally, the public interest is not served by granting the interim relief requested.”

The lawsuit was brought by a variety of wildlife conservation groups, headed by the Western Watersheds Project and the Buffalo Field Campaign. The groups said that plans to capture and send to slaughter several hundred wild bison in and around Yellowstone National Park would cause “irreparable harm” to them and the environment, and the injunction was necessary to preserve their rights and interests. Representatives from those groups couldn’t be reached for comment late Wednesday.

Yellowstone National Park was a defendant in the case and Al Nash, park spokesman, said while they haven’t had time to fully review the order, not having an injunction gives the park service more latitude to deal with bison that migrate out of the park in winter searching for food at lower elevations. He said they’ve captured about 600 bison outside the park so far this year, and are holding them at two facilities, west and north of the park’s boundaries, where they’re being tested for exposure to brucellosis.