11 facts about recreational hunting: the countdown to World Anti-Hunting Day

From 1 to 11 November, we are publishing one documented finding every day on recreational hunting and its consequences, as a countdown to the World Day Against Hunting. The basis is the Federal Hunting Statistics and peer-reviewed studies. All eleven are collected here in one place, each with its source. The detailed analysis of the studies can be found in «Hunting Fact-Checked», and the federal figures in the 2025 Hunting Statistics dossier.

1. 1,400 woodcocks, a Red List species

In 2025, 1,400 woodcocks were shot in Switzerland, 1,172 of them in Ticino. The species is classed as vulnerable (VU) in Switzerland. Over ten years, the kills add up to 16,935 birds. Also on the Red List are the brown hare (vulnerable, 1,343 killed) and the mountain hare (near threatened, 743 killed). Source: FOEN, Federal Hunting Statistics 2025; analysis in Woodcock dossier.

2. Over 3,000 animals found dead with gunshot wounds

The federal statistics list «gunshot wounds» as a cause of death for animals found dead. From 2016 to 2025, 3,189 such animals were found among just six mammal species: 1,429 roe deer, 821 foxes, 409 wild boars, 307 red deer, 161 chamois and 62 badgers. The statistics do not show whether or how they were searched for. Only the animals that were found are recorded. Source: FOEN, Animals found dead by cause 2016 to 2025.

3. Drive hunt: 3.6 times more cortisol in the blood

A Croatian research team measured the stress hormone cortisol in the blood of 407 wild boars that had been shot. After drive hunts, the mean value was 431 nmol/l; after single hunting from a high seat, it was 119 nmol/l. The meat from drive hunts also showed altered pH and colour values. Source: Kelava Ugarković et al. 2025, European Journal of Wildlife Research.

4. Hunted with dogs: 6.5 times more cortisol in the mountain hare

Mountain hares that were chased with dogs had cortisol levels 6.5 times higher than animals killed without dogs. Hunting with dogs means a markedly greater physiological stress burden for the animals. Source: Pedersen et al. 2024, Wildlife Biology.

5. Hunting rifles without a fitness assessment

Anyone buying a hunting rifle in Switzerland never has to prove that they are psychologically fit to do so. Certain hunting rifles can even be acquired without a weapon acquisition permit, using a written contract and a notification to the cantonal weapons office. At the same time, 29,328 people practise recreational hunting, and their weapons are kept in private households, often for decades. IG Wild beim Wild is calling for a regular psychological fitness assessment for all weapon owners: Petition “No firearm without a psychological fitness assessment”. Sources: fedpol, firearms; FOEN, Hunting Statistics 2025.

6. Hunted species change over 300 per cent faster

A meta-analysis shows that where humans hunt or fish animals, traits such as body size and horn size change on average more than 300 per cent faster than under natural conditions. The reason: the largest and strongest animals are preferentially targeted. Source: Darimont et al. 2009, PNAS.

7. Orphaned red deer calves waste away, as confirmed by the Grisons hunting authority

If the mother is shot, the calf's risk of death rises both before and after weaning. The Office for Hunting and Fisheries of Grisons itself states in its expert assessment of March 2025 that orphaned red deer calves become socially stunted, fail to find a group to join and suffer high mortality. Sources: AJF Graubünden, Expert Assessment 2025; Andres et al. 2013, “Sex differences in the consequences of maternal loss in a long-lived mammal, the red deer”, Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology 67.

8. 55,000 birds of prey missing in Europe because of lead ammunition

Based on liver values from more than 3,000 birds of prey found dead, researchers calculated that, across ten species, around 55,000 adult birds are missing. The white-tailed eagle population is 14 per cent smaller than it would be without lead ammunition, the golden eagle population 13 per cent. The Swiss Ornithological Institute in Sempach demonstrated that the lead found in Swiss golden eagles matches hunting ammunition. Sources: Green, Pain and Krone 2022, Science of the Total Environment; Swiss Ornithological Institute.

9. 12.4 million animals killed, no reduction in damage demonstrated

Between 2015 and 2022, France killed around 12.4 million foxes, martens, crows, magpies, jays and starlings as 'pests'. The cost: 791 million euros. The reported damage: 96 million euros. There is no statistical link between the number of animals killed and any reduction in damage. No comparable analysis exists for Switzerland. In 2026, the canton of Zug became the only canton so far to have fox hunting scientifically reviewed (SWILD expert report). Source: Jiguet et al. 2026, Biological Conservation; more in the Fox dossier.

10. Hunting ban works: 40 per cent more turtle doves

Before 2019, around one million turtle doves were shot every autumn in France, Spain and Portugal. Following the hunting moratorium from 2021, the breeding population on the western migration route rose by 40 per cent between 2021 and 2024, an estimated 615,000 additional breeding pairs. On the central-eastern migration route, where hunting continues, the population is declining. Source: Operation Turtle Dove, March 2025.

11. Geneva has lived without recreational hunting since 1974

The canton of Geneva abolished recreational hunting by popular vote in 1974. Interventions are carried out by the state wildlife wardens. In 2025, 57.8 foxes per 100 km² were found dead in Geneva, 57.9 in Bern and 83.3 in Zurich, even though hundreds to thousands of foxes are shot there every year. Fallwild (animals found dead) refers to registered carcasses, not to the size of populations, and also depends on traffic. The statistics provide no evidence of a fox plague in Geneva. Source: FOEN, Federal Hunting Statistics 2025; background in the dossier on Geneva and the hunting ban.

And on 11 November: a minute's silence

Eleven facts, eleven days. On 11 November at 11:11 we pause for a minute for the wild animals that die in Switzerland through recreational hunting, 341 on a calculated daily average in 2025. How you can take part is explained in the article '11:11 on 11.11.: A minute's silence for wild animals'.

Show your stance, on your body too

If you want to do more than stay silent on 11 November and be visible: the 'Protect foxes, don't shoot them' shirt is available in the IG Wild beim Wild shop in organic cotton from CHF 29.49. Every purchase goes towards our work for wild animals.