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Participation campaign: An appeal for change in Switzerland

The wolf is not covered by hunting law. Ergo, recreational hunters may not lay a hand on it either. This is reserved solely for the wildlife wardens.

Editorial team Wild beim Wild · 30 November 2023

A few days ago, following a recent amendment to the law, the shooting of numerous wolves in Switzerland was approved.

However, under the Bern Convention, i.e. the Convention on the Conservation of European Wildlife and Natural Habitats – both agreements that Switzerland has also ratified – wolves are a “strictly protected species”. The cull that has now been authorised undermines these agreements and, with them, the protection of wolves. Moreover, the decision to carry out the cull contradicts the result of a national referendum in 2020.

Orchestrated by Federal Councillor Albert Rösti (SVP), recreational hunters are now also set to begin massacring wolves illegally, even though the wolf is not covered by hunting law as far as they are concerned. This task is actually reserved solely for game wardens.

Reputable nature and animal welfare organisations in Switzerland and abroad had sharply criticised the Federal Council's approach in advance. A wave of legal complaints is now heading Federal Councillor Albert Rösti's way, which will hopefully lead to his resignation. A Federal Councillor pursuing politics that run against the will of the people is unworthy of a democracy.

The IG Wild beim Wild recommends that everyone who regards democracy and the rule of law as assets worth protecting protest until Federal Councillor Albert Rösti resigns.

Federal Councillor Albert Rösti (SVP)

Federal Councillor Albert Rösti is no role model when it comes to protecting biodiversity. Rather, he is a politician who arbitrarily sabotages years of groundwork in favour of biodiversity and forest protection, thereby further dividing society in these already turbulent times. A waste of taxpayers' money like no other.

Since the wolf's reappearance, "only" around 5,000 sheep now perish during summering in the Swiss Alps. In the past, around 10,000 sheep died miserably every year from falls, hunger, injuries, disease and so on. Thanks to the increased use of shepherds because of the wolf, thousands fewer animals die each year. Although there are more and more wolves in Switzerland, the number of kills fell significantly in 2023 thanks to herd protection. In Grisons the figure was 50% lower, and in the canton of Glarus as much as 80% lower.

The wolf is not the monster that the anachronistic Federal Councillor Albert Rösti would have us believe. According to a TV interview on Tele Zürich, he would ideally like to see no wolves at all left in Switzerland.

Mitmach-Aktion: Ein Appell für eine Veränderung in der Schweiz

Participation campaign: An appeal for change in Switzerland

Federal Councillor Albert Rösti presumably harbours vague fears of the wolf himself. These should be treated, not acted out unchecked.

With his policies, Federal Councillor Albert Rösti is damaging Switzerland's reputation abroad: 221 environmental organisations from 6 continents are calling on the Swiss government: Stop the wolf cull

What does hunting the wolf cost?

This year the Uri Security Directorate has already issued two kill orders for a "damage-causing wolf" – without success. Security Director Dimitri Moretti confirmed this during question time in the cantonal parliament. He also revealed that the hunt has so far cost 50,000 francs – compared with the 45,000 francs consumed by the last cull in 2016. Now two thirds of the population in Switzerland are to be arbitrarily slaughtered. This could cause costs of well over 10 million francs.

Meanwhile, resources are being poured into the time-consuming and costly wolf hunt rather than into sensible herd protection. It is a strategy that runs diametrically counter to coexistence between humans and animals.

Agriculture is not served by the killing of entire packs, since new wolves immediately move in and, without herd protection, cause damage again – perhaps even more of it.

Disproportionality

Every day in Switzerland, people are attacked and bitten by dogs. Fatalities are rare, but they do occur. It is not only cyclists and hikers who know the aggressive farm dogs. On average, eight dog-related accidents a year are so serious that they result in a disability pension. Escaped dogs also repeatedly kill livestock and wild animals. Will they be next?

Because of the unqualified recreational hunter there are also several deaths and hundreds of injuries every year.

When it comes to species protection, Switzerland is the laggard of Europe. More than a third of species and half of all habitats are threatened. One reason is the far too high numbers of livestock such as sheep, goats and others. According to a study, humans and their livestock, mostly kept in conditions amounting to animal cruelty, outweigh all wild animals by 97% to 3%. A disproportion in biomass without equal, which should give us pause for thought. And Switzerland has placed the smallest percentage of its land under protection. We also have what is probably the most heavily subsidised agriculture in the world, which means we have one of the most intensive agricultural systems anywhere. And we begrudge our wild animals everything.

It cannot go on like this.

For activists

I endorse this criticism and will protest until the wolf kill that has now been decided is completely reversed, Federal Councillor Albert Rösti announces his resignation, and the wolf is protected in Switzerland from now on without ifs or buts.

Template letter: Application for remission of federal and cantonal taxes in view of the recently approved wolf kill in Switzerland:

Dossier: Wolf in Switzerland: facts, politics and the limits of hunting

Further articles

More on the subject of recreational hunting: In the dossier Alternatives to recreational hunting we show political and practical alternatives to recreational hunting. The scientific evidence is presented in the overview Studies on the Effects of Recreational Hunting.

The position of IG Wild beim Wild: IG Wild beim Wild rejects recreational hunting. Our model is the canton of Geneva, which has managed without recreational hunting since 1974: without hunting seasons, without hunting dogs, without driven hunts, without high seats, without the animal cruelty and crime that go hand in hand with hunting season elsewhere. What has worked there for over fifty years disproves every position paper by JagdSchweiz. An association that bases its policy on claims it refutes in its own documents is not a professional organisation, but a factory for misinformation.

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Wild beim Wild editorial team

All articles are written by IG Wild beim Wild as well as by external co-authors. Research, structuring and editorial processes may be supported by AI-assisted tools.

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