Did a hobby hunter once again shoot the wrong wolf?
Following numerous livestock attacks on various alpine pastures in Klosters, Graubünden ordered the culling of a wolf on 1 September 2022 to prevent further damage. In addition to staff from the Office for Hunting and Fisheries, specially designated, locally knowledgeable licensed hunters were also authorised to shoot the wolf during the unregulated hunting season.
On 24 September 2022, a hobby hunter shot and killed a wolf in the municipal territory of Klosters during the disreputable open hunting season in Graubünden, even though no livestock had been on the alpine pastures for some time.
After 14 days with very few wolf sightings by the 80 hobby hunters authorised to shoot the wolf, the wolf was killed on 24 September 2022 by a hobby hunter within the designated culling perimeter. The Office for Hunting and Lies is pleased that the recreational hunters were able to fulfil this highly responsible task. At the same time, it points to the significant finding that the culling of wolves is extremely demanding and time-intensive.
The required damage threshold was narrowly met; however, the vast majority of the sheep killed were unprotected. According to the canton's assessment, of the 60 sheep killed in total since mid-June, only 13 could be counted as having been killed in protected situations. Nature conservation organisations are now calling for a reduction of the culling deadline. Once the imminent end of the summer grazing season means no more sheep remain on the alpine pastures, there can be no further damage within the culling perimeter.
The kill was achieved within the culling perimeter specified by the Office for Hunting and Lies. The animal killed was a female wolf. Whether the shot female wolf may have been a mother wolf (and thus subject to higher-level protection) will be determined by the investigations. A second wolf was observed in the same area at the same time.
Once the wolf can no longer find sheep on the alpine pasture, a cull becomes obsolete. The associations also firmly reject the expansion of the culling perimeter to more than double its size, based solely on «sightings» of the wolves. This measure, too, has nothing to do with preventing concrete harm.
The killed wolf will now be transferred to the Centre for Fish and Wildlife Medicine (FIWI) in Bern for pathological examination. The genetic analysis will be carried out at the Laboratoire de Biologie de la Conservation at the University of Lausanne.
