RALEIGH — A Wake County judge has issued a preliminary injunction halting coyote hunting at night with artificial light as wildlife and environmental groups challenge a rule allowing the practice.

N.C. Superior Court Judge Paul Ridgeway issued the order pending the outcome of a lawsuit challenging the temporary rule adopted by the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission.

Coyote hunting at night with the aid of artificial light was allowed in Dare, Tyrrell, Hyde, Washington and Beaufort counties.

Opponents say coyotes and red wolves look so similar they're hard to tell apart even in daylight. Four red wolves have been found shot to death since the rule took effect.

About 100 red wolves live wild in northeastern North Carolina, where scientists are trying to restore one of the two wolf breeds native to North America.