Aosta Valley: four-year-old she-wolf killed by a shot to the muzzle in Brusson
Examinations confirm a fatal shot to the muzzle. According to greenMe, it was fired from close range. The Corpo forestale is investigating. Who fired the shot is not yet known.
Symbolic image. Photo: Michael LaRosa / Unsplash
Wolf Song
In the Aosta Valley, a she-wolf has been killed by a shot to the muzzle. The four-year-old wolf was found dead on Saturday, 7 November 2026, in Brusson in the Val d’Ayas. The regional Corpo forestale is investigating. Who fired the shot is not yet known.
What the examinations show
Veterinarians at Cermas, the national reference centre for wildlife diseases, examined the carcass. According to Fanpage/Kodami, the examinations confirmed that the she-wolf was killed by a shot to the muzzle. greenMe additionally reports that the shot was fired from close range. Both outlets classify the case as poaching. According to the Fanpage report of 10 November, the public prosecutor had not yet opened proceedings at that point.
Brusson lies in the Val d’Ayas, a side valley of the Aosta Valley.
Illegal killings and political pressure to kill
The discovery recalls other cases of suspected illegal killings of predators. In the Ore Mountains, two wolves were recently poached, and in Oberegg AI a lynx mother and two cubs with gunshot wounds were found. Besides suspected illegal killings, officially ordered kills are also drawing criticism: in South Tyrol, the province had a she-wolf shot that had given birth to pups shortly before. Our article deals with the criminal prosecution of wolf poaching « 300 francs for a female wolf ».
Commentary
The reported shot to the muzzle from point-blank range is disturbing. How it came about and who is responsible must be established by the investigation. Political debates about additional wolf kills must not play down illegal killings. Even a relaxed protection status is no licence for vigilante justice. The case in Brusson must be investigated rigorously. Should the suspicion of poaching be confirmed, the person responsible must be held to account.
Sources: Fanpage/Kodami, greenMe
More on the subject of recreational hunting: In the dossier Poaching and hunting crime in Switzerland we document cases, legal questions and recurring patterns. 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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