Poacher shoots lynx mother on Lake Thun

A poacher shot a lynx mother in the abdomen; she was found floating dead on the shore of Lake Thun.

«A lynx mother frolics with her cubs in the snow in the area of the municipality of Sigriswil.» This caption accompanies the photo above. The image was taken from a camera trap also used for population surveys, known as monitoring.

The animal is believed to have been poached sometime at the beginning of this winter. «We were able to identify the animal from its coat pattern,» says wildlife biologist Florin Kunz from the specialist unit Kora, which coordinates research projects and is involved in the study and management of predators in Switzerland. The animal was found on the shore of Lake Thun, near Beatenberg. The specialist unit lists all lynx “losses” on its website: according to this, there were several cases of poaching.

During the last winter (2015/2016), 16 lynx and 5 cubs were counted that have since made their home between Lake Thun and Lake Brienz, across the Brünig Pass and as far as Lucerne.

No official statistics

The hunting inspectorate regrets the incident and explains that filing a report can be difficult, writes the Berner Zeitung today.

The hunting inspectorate was unable to comment on the specific case for legal reasons, but expressed regret over the incident and indicated that it takes «eery case of poaching very seriously». Hunting inspector Niklaus Blatter explains that poachers today are well equipped, for example with night-vision devices or silencers on their rifles. They are also mobile by car and well connected with associates via smartphone.

If the poached game is also missing, it is nearly impossible to prove a case of poaching at all. «Only when sufficient information is available is it possible to file a complaint against a specific perpetrator.» Blatter’s predecessor put the number of convictions for illegal hunting at one per year.

Lynxes had already been on the hobby hunters' hit list before: In 2000, following a controversy over lynxes in the cantons of Bern and Vaud, six lynxes fell victim to poachers.

200 lynxes in Switzerland

As if that weren't enough: the paws of one of the animals were sent to the cantonal hunting inspectorate at the time, along with death threats. The proceedings against the unknown lynx poachers were subsequently dropped in every case. To this day, the perpetrators remain unidentified. And there is no official statistic on poaching cases in the canton.

Lynx populations are regularly monitored in various parts of Switzerland; a new monitoring survey is currently underway in the Bernese Oberland: south of Lake Thun and Lake Brienz, east of the Kander Valley, and west of the Hasli Valley. An estimated 200 lynxes live in Switzerland today. The highest density is in the southern Jura (2.61 lynxes per 100 square kilometres), while the lowest is in northern Valais (0.62).

According to the wildlife research centre Kora, the lynx's primary prey is roe deer, with chamois coming in second place, explains Florin Kunz. A lynx consumes one prey animal of this type on average per week. However, it also makes do with less, taking foxes, hares, or marmots. “Occasionally, a lynx will also prey on a farm animal such as a sheep or a goat.” This has, however, stabilised at a low level of approximately 30 animals nationwide. The perpetrators are virtually always hobby hunters, who simply poach competing prey animals.

In Switzerland, hobby hunters shoot down around 150’000 wild animals per year. This includes around 7’800 special culls; these encompass regulatory culls, the shooting of injured or sick wild animals and those causing damage, but also poached animals. The animal welfare problem of hobby hunting is laid bare here in all its brutality.