About us

Feature	Details
Legal form	Interest group (IG)
Founded	11 June 2015
Headquarters	Acquarossa, Ticino, Switzerland
Purpose	Animal rights, nature and environmental protection
Method	Research, education, campaigning, initiatives
Area of activity	Switzerland, DACH region & international
Management	Carl Sonnthal
Statutes	Statutory document
Website	wildbeimwild.com

The most far-reaching hunting-critical platform in the German-speaking world

Wild beim Wild is an independent animal rights movement and the largest exclusively hunting-critical platform in the DACH region. With around 62,000 followers on Facebook, more than 1,500 posts on Instagram, 5,081,992 page views, 2,981,413 unique visitors as well as 3,696 published posts on wildbeimwild.com (1 October 2026), the IG reaches a community that is unmatched in the field of recreational hunting criticism.

While large animal welfare organisations treat recreational hunting as just one of many topics, Wild beim Wild has focused exclusively on this field since 2015. The result: a platform that delivers Facts instead of hunters' tales, evaluates official data, contextualises scientific studies, exposes the lobby structures of the recreational hunting community and, through criminal complaints, ensures that animal welfare law is not merely words on paper – for wild animals and farm animals alike.

The fact that a thematically specialised interest group from Ticino achieves such reach shows that criticism of recreational hunting is no longer a marginal issue, but a growing societal concern.

No one becomes an opponent of hunting out of boredom, but out of knowledge of this animal cruelty.

History

IG Wild beim Wild was founded in Switzerland on 11 June 1974 by Carl Sonnthal to address the growing pressure on wild animals caused by urbanisation, agriculture and the cruel practice of recreational hunting. Originally established as a local initiative, the organisation has developed over the years into a transnational voice for wild animals and their protection. Today, it is one of the leading organisations critical of hunting in Switzerland and is recognised as a centre of expertise against recreational hunting throughout the German-speaking world (DACH region).

Objectives

The overarching goal of IG Wild beim Wild is to abolish recreational hunting and introduce a modern wildlife management system based on the model of the canton of Geneva, which has had a hunting ban for recreational hunters since 19 May 1974: without recreational hunting, but with honest, professional game wardens who act according to a code of honour.

In addition, the IG pursues the following objectives:

Protecting habitats for wild animals
Protecting livestock from official failures, particularly where herd protection is lacking or the animal welfare act is being violated
Educating and informing the public about wild animals and recreational hunting
Promoting sustainable practices in agriculture and forestry
Cooperating with animal welfare and nature conservation organisations, politicians and authorities
Supporting scientific methods of immunocontraception as an alternative to lethal population control
Promoting animal rights for wild animals, who have no voice of their own in political decisions

As a matter of principle, the IG does not cooperate with hunting associations, JagdSchweiz or organisations affiliated with hunting.

Activities

IG Wild beim Wild carries out a wide range of programmes and projects:

Source-based research, Dossiers and background analyses on wild animal species, hunting law, animal welfare and hunting policy
Publication of the Guiding culture on hunting criticism, source-based argumentation papers against recreational hunting and in favour of professional wildlife protection
template texts for hunting-critical motions in cantonal parliaments
Regular Press releases and Campaigns
Legal work: The legal department regularly files criminal complaints and supports proceedings to protect wild animals and livestock – ranging from cruelty to animals during recreational hunts, to official failures in herd protection, to political irresponsibility within cantonal governments
Supporting the initiative «For Professional Wildlife Protection» in collaboration with wildlife biologists and scientists
Cooperation with police and public prosecutors on criminal activities by the recreational hunting community and other cases of animal cruelty
Operation of the Hobby-Jäger-Radar and Hunt Watch
Production of videos and maintenance of social media channels
Support for animal sanctuaries and a vegan lifestyle
Online petitions and information campaigns
Support for third-party organisations in animal and nature conservation, journalists, and private individuals

How we work

Wild beim Wild publishes research, analyses and fact checks on recreational hunting in Switzerland. Our content is based on verifiable sources: official kill figures, court rulings, parliamentary motions, scientific studies and original documents from the federal government and cantons.

We clearly distinguish between three types of content:

Fact check: Examination of a specific claim based on verifiable data. We show the sources, identify uncertainties and formulate a comprehensible conclusion.
Analysis/Dossier: Contextualisation of complex topics such as Hunting legislation, Wildlife management or crime in the hunting context, with source references and context.
Commentary/Campaign: Clearly marked as an opinion piece or Campaign campaign. This is where IG Wild beim Wild takes a political and ethical stance.

Errors are corrected once identified. Significant corrections are transparently noted in the relevant article. If a body of research is only of limited reliability, we say so openly.

Who is behind Wild beim Wild

Carl Sonnthal founded Wild beim Wild in 2015 and has led the organisation ever since. Over the years, he has intensively studied hunting law, wildlife biology, animal welfare policy and the structures of the Swiss hunting lobby. His research into hunting crimes, regulatory enforcement failures and the Psychology of recreational hunting forms the foundation of the platform.

The editorial team works together with external experts, including wildlife biologists, lawyers and journalists. On specific topics such as Geneva model without recreational hunting, predator management or cantonal hunting acts their expertise and source work feed into the articles.

Independence and funding

Wild beim Wild is an information and campaign platform run on a voluntary basis. The IG itself does not accept donations. Anyone wishing to financially support animal welfare work can donate directly to the non-profit Stiftung Tiere in Not – Animal Help (STINAH), which finances, among other things, political and legal work. The IG receives no funding from hunting associations, the weapons industry, state bodies or political parties. No advertisements are placed. This independence is a prerequisite for critical reporting on recreational hunting, the hunting lobby and the authorities' handling of wild animals in Switzerland.

Positions

Recreational hunting and animal welfare law

Recreational hunting contradicts an enlightened, scientific and ethical understanding of nature and animals. Wild animals are sentient beings with social structures, the capacity to feel pain and stress responses (cf. Cambridge Declaration on Consciousness, 2012). They cannot be “harvested” as part of a leisure activity, like vegetables or fruit.

Article 1 of the Swiss Animal Welfare Act (TSchG) protects the dignity and wellbeing of animals. Article 26 TSchG makes clear: no one may unjustifiably inflict pain, suffering or harm on an animal, put it in fear, or otherwise disregard its dignity. The IG Wild beim Wild has documented for years how recreational hunting systematically undermines this principle.

Although it has been proven for decades (Luxembourg, Geneva, national parks) that foxes in particular do not require “regulation” through killing, the recreational hunting community ignores scientific facts and disregards animal welfare laws.

Speciesism towards wild animals

In Switzerland, the anti-racism criminal provision prohibits the discrimination of people on the basis of their ethnicity, skin colour and religion. For animals, however, the legal situation is different: non-native animal species are granted no protection, and their right to life is denied to them by law solely on the basis of their origin. In 1975, the Australian philosopher Peter Singer described this phenomenon as “speciesism”: the conviction of humans that, by virtue of belonging to their species, they are superior to all other species and may treat them as they please. The IG Wild beim Wild is committed to ensuring that this attitude is no longer accepted in a civilised society.

Non-violence as a guiding principle

Non-violence is what distinguishes civilised human beings from predators in the animal kingdom. Passion for hunting is neither a mandate from society nor a right. The recreationally motivated injuring and killing of wild animals normalises behaviours such as cruelty, brutality and indifference to suffering — behaviours that must be eliminated in human interactions.

Do not do unto others what you would not want done unto you. This is one of the IG's guiding principles.

When injustice becomes law, resistance becomes duty!

Children's rights and recreational hunting

Children and young people must be protected from all forms of violence. The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child encompasses the right of all minors to physical and mental integrity. The UN Committee on the Rights of the Child states:

Children must be protected from all forms of physical and psychological violence and from exposure to violence, such as domestic violence or violence against animals.

From the perspective of IG Wild beim Wild, the passive and active participation of children and young people in hunting activities is unacceptable. In 2023, the IG called in an appeal for minors to be protected from the harmful effects of violence in recreational hunting. Poland has already implemented this children's right and banned recreational hunting in the presence of minors.

Campaigns

Successes

Victory against the Jagd Schweiz association (2020)

IG Wild beim Wild filed a criminal complaint with the public prosecutor's office in Gossau SG against Hanspeter Egli, then president of Jagd Schweiz, chairman of the Andwil hunting association and president of the cantonal association Revierjagd St. Gallen. The allegations against him included violations of the Federal Act against Unfair Competition, cruel hunts abroad, and violations of the Animal Welfare Act, specifically the “disregard for the dignity of an animal”. There were also suspicions of bodily harm and of alarming the public through public incitement to acts of violence.

The JagdSchweiz association reacted by attempting to silence the IG. Troublesome individuals should, to use the recreational hunting lobby's own words, be «silenced» and «made to disappear from the scene». The IG could not be intimidated and, for its part, filed a criminal complaint.

On 17 July 2020, the court in Bellinzona ruled: practically everything that is cruel, unnecessary and heartless is according to the legally binding judgment promoted by JagdSchweiz. The case was reported nationwide by the Swiss News Agency (SDA) under the headline «Top Swiss hunter reported to authorities».

Criminal complaints to protect wild and domestic animals

IG Wild beim Wild enforces animal welfare law not only through journalism, but also through legal action. Since its founding, the legal department has filed numerous criminal complaints that go far beyond recreational hunting in the narrower sense:

Protection of domestic animals: In the canton of Ticino, between October 2025 and February 2026, the IG documented at least 38 domestic animals killed by wolf attacks, where the veterinary office took no action despite the absence of herd protection. The IG filed a criminal complaint for official negligence. The public prosecutor opened an investigation.
Hunting psychology and enforcement deficits: The IG analysed the psychology of recreational hunting in the cantons and exposed enforcement deficits in animal welfare law.
Hunting lobbyism in public authorities: In the canton of Aargau, the IG revealed how hunting lobbyists simultaneously hold public office, thereby undermining neutrality and public trust in the rule of law.
Systemic criticism of the justice system: In an extensive investigation, the IG documented structural problems within the Grisons judicial system, which systematically turns a blind eye to hunting offences.
Political responsibility: Criminal complaint against Grisons government councillor Mario Cavigelli, who had demonstrably misled the public and the Grand Council on hunting policy issues.
and much more

This commitment shows that IG Wild beim Wild understands animal welfare as law enforcement. Where authorities fail, veterinary offices look the other way, or politicians shirk responsibility, the IG intervenes legally, for both wild animals and domestic animals alike.

Criminal complaint against the IOC and FEI (2021)

Due to animal cruelty during the 2021 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, IG Wild beim Wild filed a criminal complaint with the public prosecutor's office in Lausanne against the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the Fédération Equestre Internationale (FEI). The IOC and the FEI were accused of violating the Animal Welfare Act and the Animal Welfare Ordinance.

The worldwide pressure caused by media coverage led to a rethink: modern pentathlon will in future be held without the riding discipline.

Get involved

The movement is open to interested activists who wish to campaign for the protection of wild animals and their habitats. No formal membership is required, just determination.

Are you planning a hunting-critical initiative, petition or campaign? The IG can help with know-how, networking, research and facts.

The IG appeals to the public not to turn to the recreational hunting community when faced with problems involving wild animals, but instead to search online for expert wildlife advice that applies peaceful solutions.

You can help all animals and our planet with compassion. Choose compassion on your plate and in your glass. Go vegan.