The insane hunt for wolves in Switzerland

The wolves were massacred on foot, from off-road vehicles, in small huts flown into the forest by helicopter, or even illegally lured with dog food. Tools such as thermal imaging cameras and night vision devices, normally prohibited and frowned upon in hunting, were used. Every trick in the book was employed, and laws were broken.

Editorial Team Wild beim Wild — February 17, 2025

During the proactive wolf massacre of the last five months, approximately 100 wolves were shot in Switzerland by the end of January.

To achieve this, the cantonal game wardens spent thousands of hours roaming the wilderness, primarily after nightfall, disturbing the habitat of all wild animals. This burden pushed not only the game wardens to their limits.

17,000 working hours in Valais alone

In Valais alone, the wolf massacre last year required nearly 17,000 working hours. According to the Office for Hunting and Nonsense, the 26 game wardens worked a total of 6,400 overtime hours across their entire area of responsibility. On average, that's 250 overtime hours per game warden, which, for a full-time position, equates to roughly six working weeks.

The wolf massacre of 2024/25 cost taxpayers millions of francs – a figure that is completely absurd given the actual damage wolves cause and in times of austerity. As studies show, recreational hunting fails as a means of population control .

Wolves perform an important ecological and economic function. Almost half of all forests in Switzerland protect settlements and infrastructure from natural hazards. Wolves benefit the forest, especially protective forests and forest regeneration.

Due to high wildlife populations, young trees often have little chance of growing. Rare species like the silver fir suffer particularly badly. The problem of browsing damage can be solved by increasing the presence of predators such as wolves and lynxes. Learn more about biodiversity and the ecological benefits of predators.

Forests are essential for climate protection. Trees absorb carbon dioxide from the air and store it long-term. A study by the University of Leeds shows that the return of wolves could sequester an additional million tons of CO₂ per year. Particularly noteworthy: The researchers calculated that each individual wolf would contribute to the storage of 6,080 tons of CO₂ annually. Based on current calculations of the value of CO₂, each animal would theoretically be "worth" around 170,000 Swiss francs.

Sheep mortality in Switzerland: Diseases instead of wolves

Federal government cuts livestock protection funds

It is particularly scandalous that the federal government, under the direction of Federal Councillor Albert Rösti, is even cutting funds for livestock protection, despite the fact that this can demonstrably reduce attacks by up to 100%. The number of livestock kills is not dependent on the wolf population, but on the livestock protection measures in place. In the past, there have been years with exceptionally high levels of damage despite low wolf populations. The majority of the killed livestock are killed in unprotected alpine pastures.

Vaud game wardens spent 7,000 hours dealing with the wolf massacre, which, according to authorities, meant other important tasks were neglected. Six wolves were killed in the Vaud Jura mountains, requiring 115 nights of work by the officers. This means that, on average, the game wardens spent 20 nights in the forest for each dead wolf.

The canton doubts that the 30 animals killed in Vaud justify such personnel and ultimately also financial expenditure.

Vaud environmental officer calls for a change of thinking

Instead, Vassilis Venizelos, the environmental officer for the canton of Vaud, is hoping for better livestock protection. "For 2025, I would like to see less time, less money, and less energy invested in regulation and more in protection," says Venizelos. However, he criticizes the federal government, under the leadership of Environment Minister Albert Rösti (57), for not participating and withdrawing from livestock protection. "That's nonsense!" he says. The Geneva model demonstrates that wildlife management works without recreational hunting.

The recreational hunting of innocent young animals, the arbitrary elimination of entire packs, the systematic shooting of "wolves that aren't actually wolves," and the waste of money and resources demonstrate that this is unacceptable in a civilized country. More on the animal welfare problem of recreational hunting.

Dossier: Wolf in Switzerland: Facts, politics and limits of hunting

Participate in this campaign: Due to the disastrous policies of Federal Councillor Albert Rösti (SVP), request a waiver of federal and cantonal taxes from your local council following the recently approved culling of wolves in Switzerland. You can download a sample letter here: https://wildbeimwild.com/ein-appell-fuer-eine-veraenderung-in-der-schweiz/