Dominik Thiel: Wolf hunting at state expense

In February 2024, department head Dominik Thiel travelled to Russia together with a game warden: five paid working days, approved by government councillor Beat Tinner.

The official justification: They wanted to study the flagging hunt, that hunting method where wolves are encircled with hanging cloth flags and then shot. In Western Europe, the wolf is protected, so one must go to Russia for such «insights».

The result of the «study»: four wolves killed in three days. Pro Natura, the St. Gallen Greens, the Wolf Group Switzerland and the IG Wild beim Wild agreed: This is not continuing education, this is trophy hunting. And indeed, wolf hunting in Russia is internationally considered trophy hunting, as evidenced by the CITES import data for Switzerland, where wolf trophies from Russia and Bulgaria are recorded in 2024 with the purpose code «H» (Hunting trophy).

Squirrels, Wyoming and two years of file denial

What only came to light two years later through the SRF report is even more telling: For «sighting in» in Russia, Thiel shot a grey squirrel out of a tree with a small caliber rifle for pleasure and had himself photographed proudly grinning in the process. As wildbeimwild.com noted, this has «nothing to do with hunting, respect, science, ethics or animal welfare».

The six-day driven hunt in the Republic of Udmurtia cost around 1,750 francs per person, plus 1,100 francs per wolf killed, trophy preparation included.

Three months after the Russia trip, Thiel planned another «continuing education», this time to Wyoming, USA. Tinner cancelled the work days. Thiel booked them as vacation and went anyway. And the Canton of St. Gallen? Denied SRF file access for over two years until a court decision forced disclosure. Those who have nothing to hide don't wage multi-level legal battles against journalists.

An office with a dossier

The Russia affair is not a slip-up, it is another entry in a long dossier. Wildbeimwild.com has been documenting questionable administration under Thiel for years:

• Unlawful wolf shootings: A shooting permit for a wolf in the Canton of St. Gallen was classified as unlawful
• Wolf management without science: According to experts' assessment, the office does not work evidence-based
• Deliberate deindividualization of wolves: Thiel rejects names for wolves, «that would stir emotions», and insists on sober numbers like M75
• Hunting education as legitimation for hobby hunters: The office modernizes hunting education, under the leadership of a man who hunts wolves in Russia
• Silence on poaching: Thiel responded evasively to questions about poaching in the canton

Conflict of interest as administrative principle

Thiel is not only head of office, he is a hobby hunter. Someone who simultaneously leads the hunting authority and actively shoots wolves himself cannot be a neutral administrator of public wildlife protection. The psychology behind this is simple: those who view animals as prey administer them as resources, not as life worth protecting.

Tinner defended the trip instead of sanctioning it. Four dead wolves as a quality feature of a business trip – that says everything about this authority's attitude toward Swiss wildlife protection.

Taxpayers finance hunting culture

While Thiel paid the travel costs himself, the five work days were at taxpayers' expense. Five paid official days for a trophy hunt in a country that was unlawfully attacking Ukraine at the time of the trip and was under Western sanctions. This is not only an ethical but also a foreign policy problem.

Government Councilor Tinner has subsequently described the trip as «no longer approvable», but this had no consequences. Thiel remains in office, still responsible for wolf policy in the Canton of St. Gallen.

What this has to do with Switzerland

The CITES data show: Trophy hunting is not a fringe phenomenon. Switzerland imported trophies of elephants, giraffes, mountain zebras, cheetahs and wolves in 2024, all with wild extraction certificates, all declared as hunting trophies. As long as authorities are led by active trophy hunters, structural independence is an illusion.

An Office for Nature, Hunting and Fishing led by a man who hunts wolves in Russia and shoots squirrels for fun is not a nature conservation office. It is a hunting authority with a nature conservation label.

Sources:

• SRF Original Report
• CITES Trade Database

More on this topic: wildbeimwild.com/dominik-thiel

Dossier St. Gallen Hunting Administration:

• Dominik Thiel: Wolf hunter at taxpayers' expense – an office director as security risk for wildlife protection
• Psychology of hunting in Canton St. Gallen
• Hunting season until New Year's Eve: shooting pressure instead of wildlife management
• Patent hunting as solution against red deer conflicts?
• St. Gallen hunting administration: wolf management without science and without credibility
• The permit to shoot a wolf in Canton St. Gallen was unlawful
• Public deception in Canton St. Gallen
• Office for hunting and nonsense in St. Gallen modernizes hunting education
• St. Gallen wants to regulate wolf pack at Gamserrugg
• Controversy over Swissofficial at wolf hunt in Russia
• «Experts» in St. Gallen end wolf regulation for this winter
• The rotten apple in St. Gallen hunting administration
• Lying hunter became department head in Canton St. Gallen
• St. Gallen: Stop the fox and badger massacre
• Are FOEN and the hunting administrations still working seriously?
• How hobby hunter Simon Meier leads onto the wrong track