Sample Texts Against Hobby Hunting: Motions and Popular Initiatives
Over 80 templates for all 26 cantons, free of charge and freely available.
The IG Wild beim Wild provides over 80 ready-made sample texts for motions, postulates, interpellations, and popular initiatives against hobby hunting, free of charge and freely available for all 26 cantons.
What are the sample texts for hunting-critical parliamentary motions?
The collection comprises over 80 templates that can be used free of charge by members of parliament, political parties, and activists in all 26 cantons. The texts cover eight thematic areas, ranging from fundamental criticism to a federal popular initiative, and can be adapted directly to cantonal legal norms and submitted accordingly.
What are sample texts needed for?
Hunting-critical motions in cantonal parliaments often fail not because of a lack of political will, but because of the wording: How should a postulate be correctly structured? Which legal articles need to be referenced? How does a motion in the canton of Zurich differ from one in the canton of Bern? These technical hurdles prevent many committed individuals from taking the first step.
The sample texts take exactly this work off your hands. They are legally pre-formulated, substantiated on thematic grounds, and adapted to Swiss parliamentary practice. Anyone wishing to submit a text must review it for cantonal particularities — for example, whether the canton uses a patent hunting or territory-based hunting system — and adjust the relevant terminology accordingly. The substantive and argumentative groundwork has already been done. All texts are available free of charge at wildbeimwild.com/mustertexte .
What types of parliamentary motions are there?
The texts cover various parliamentary instruments. A motion obliges the government to draft a piece of legislation; it is the most binding parliamentary instrument. A postulate calls on the government to produce a report or examine an issue; it is less binding, but often effective for public outreach. An interpellation poses questions to the government and requires a written response — well suited for placing inconvenient facts on the record.
In addition, there are cantonal popular initiatives (referendums) submitted directly by the public following signature collection, as well as a federal popular initiative as a higher-level instrument aimed at amending the Federal Constitution. All of these instruments are covered by template texts. The Hunting Law Switzerland explains the legal foundations within which these motions operate.
What thematic areas are covered?
The template texts are organized into eight thematic areas:
Foundations and hobby hunting in Switzerland (15 templates): From the abolition of small game hunting to wildlife corridors and the prohibition of driven hunts targeting pregnant animals. This section lays the ecological and animal welfare foundation.
Politics and lobbying (6 templates): Transparency regarding conflicts of interest, lobbying registers, and the prohibition of hunting propaganda featuring animal carcasses in schools and at public events.
Hunting methods and safety (15 templates): Prohibition of alcohol and drugs during hobby hunting, criminological vetting of hunting licenses, lead-free ammunition, prohibition of trap and lure hunting, and safety distances.
Animal dignity and the psychological dimension (8 templates): Regulation of trophy images on social media, prohibition of hunting events involving animal cruelty, protection of children from exposure to hunting-related violence, and legal equality for wild animals under animal protection law.
Wolf and predators (5 templates): A moratorium on wolf culls, prioritization of livestock protection measures, and evaluation of culls carried out according to international standards.
Law, oversight, and alternatives (6 templates): Independent hunting supervision, transparent statistics on errant shots, and abolition of environmental privileges granted to hobby hunting under animal protection law.
Cantonal popular initiatives (25 templates): Complete bans on private hobby hunting for each of the 25 cantons with their own right of initiative, including background information, required signature counts, and specific features.
Federal popular initiative (1 template): «For professional wildlife protection» — a proposal for a new constitutional provision that introduces the Geneva model at the federal level and strengthens the protection of predators.
How are the template texts used?
The process is simple: select the text, download it, check it for cantonal specifics (patent hunting vs. territory hunting, article designations, deadlines, formal requirements), have it reviewed by a lawyer if needed, and submit it. The texts can also be used for multiple cantons simultaneously, as coordinated motions advancing in different cantonal parliaments at the same time.
For parliamentarians without caucus support, the following applies: A postulate requesting a government report costs nothing and generates little political resistance, but it compels a public response. That alone can shift the debate.
What is the goal of the template texts?
The goal is not to immediately push through a hobby hunting ban in every canton. The goal is to establish questions in the public sphere that have rarely been asked before: Why are wild animals not afforded the full protection of animal welfare law? Why is there no independent oversight of hobby hunting? Why are 0.3 percent of the population given privileged influence over wildlife policy?
When parliamentary questions are asked, governments must answer. When reports are written, facts are created that can be drawn upon. When popular initiatives are launched, societal debates begin. The template texts are a toolkit for people who want to advance the hunting ban in Switzerland step by step, canton by canton.
What does the template for the federal popular initiative contain?
The template text for the federal popular initiative «For Professional Wildlife Protection» proposes a new constitutional provision. It is intended to replace hobby hunting nationwide with professional, state-run wildlife management, based on the proven Geneva model. In addition, the protection of predators such as wolves, lynx, bears, and beavers is to be enshrined in the constitution.
The template text includes a complete initiative formulation, explanations of the proposed constitutional articles 79a and 79b, a cost estimate based on the Geneva model, and a political strategy for the signature collection campaign. It thus also covers the scenario that is the most difficult to achieve but would have the greatest long-term impact. The alternatives to hobby hunting and the arguments in favour of professional wildlife wardens provide the substantive foundation for this.
What cantonal particularities need to be considered when using the templates?
Two systems shape Swiss hobby hunting: In around 16 of 26 cantons, the patent hunting system applies, whereby hobby hunters purchase a licence and can hunt across the entire huntable area of the canton, without any obligation to manage or take responsibility for a specific territory. In nine cantons, the territory-based hunting system applies, whereby hunting associations lease areas and bear responsibility for them. The canton of Geneva is the only canton to operate a state-managed hunting system without hobby hunters.
This distinction is not merely academic: it influences which arguments are effective, which formulations are legally correct, and which political alliances are possible. A template text for a territory-based hunting canton emphasises territorial responsibility and its failures; a text for patent hunting cantons emphasises the lack of area responsibility and the resulting lack of accountability. If in doubt, contact can be made via the website for canton-specific adjustments.
Who developed the template texts and how up to date are they?
The template texts were developed by IG Wild beim Wild and last updated in March 2026. They are based on the dossiers on Hunting Law Switzerland, Hunting Ban Switzerland, the wildlife warden model and the Geneva model. They reflect the current state of the JSG, the Animal Protection Act (TSchG), and cantonal hunting laws, to the extent that this was possible at the time of drafting.
Before submission, IG Wild beim Wild recommends a legal review for cantonal compatibility. The texts are intended as a starting point, not as a finished template to be adopted uncritically. Changes to federal law or cantonal implementing regulations may necessitate adjustments.
Conclusion
The template texts represent a previously unique offering in the German-speaking world of hunting criticism: over 80 legally pre-formulated templates, organised by topic, covering all 26 cantons and the federal level, free of charge and freely available. They significantly lower the barrier to political engagement and demonstrate that hunting-critical positions can be advanced through parliamentary means.
Anyone wishing to take concrete action is best advised to start by identifying their own canton, selecting a suitable text, and seeking dialogue with elected representatives or local political parties. All texts are available at wildbeimwild.com/mustertexte.
Sources
- Federal Act on Hunting and the Protection of Wild Mammals and Birds (JSG), SR 922.0
- Swiss Animal Welfare Act (TSchG), SR 455
- Cantonal hunting laws and regulations of the 26 cantons
- Cantonal constitutions and laws on political rights
- Art. 139 FC (federal popular initiative)
- IG Wild beim Wild: Template texts for hunt-critical motions in cantonal parliaments, updated March 2026
