SPOKANE, Wash. (AP) — Conservation groups on Monday asked the Washington Fish and Wildlife Commission to sharply limit the number of endangered wolves that are killed over conflicts with livestock.

The state has killed 31 wolves since 2012, under a system that environmental groups contend favors ranchers over the animals.

“Washington’s trigger-happy wolf program favors livestock owners and ignores sound science,” said Sophia Ressler, an attorney at the Center for Biological Diversity. “It’s a broken system.”

Officials for the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The conservation groups want the wildlife commission to amend its rules to require that livestock producers use appropriate non-lethal deterrence methods to prevent conflict between livestock and wolves. The new rules would ensure that the state kills wolves only as a last resort.

The…