BILLINGS, Mont. — Wildlife advocates are asking Montana wildlife officials to ban trapping along much of the Idaho border to protect a cat-sized predator that lives in old-growth forests.

Representatives of five environmental groups said in a petition submitted Tuesday to Montana wildlife commissioners that trapping is a serious threat to the Northern Rockies fisher.

Federal wildlife officials say at least 100 of the animals were killed in Montana between 2002 and 2016. Idaho does not allow trapping of fishers, but 86 were killed by trappers accidentally in that time period.

The fanged predators once ranged at least five states. They’re now limited to an area straddling the Montana-Idaho border. Federal wildlife officials in 2017 said fishers were not in danger of extinction despite worries about habitat loss and trapping.