Hunting and biodiversity: Does hunting really protect nature?

“Recreational hunting protects biodiversity” is a phrase that works well politically. It sounds modern, scientific, and responsible. Hunting associations repeat it at every opportunity: in press releases, in responses to consultations, and in discussions with authorities. Hunting Switzerland states on its website that recreational hunters make “an important contribution to the protection of biodiversity.” This sounds like evidence. But on closer inspection, it becomes clear: what is being marketed as a conservation effort is simply a land use practice that gives itself an ecological label.

Biodiversity is more than just the number of animal species in an area. It encompasses genetic diversity within populations, the diversity of habitats, and the functionality of ecological systems: insects, soil organisms, fungal networks, plant communities, water quality, and structural richness. The Swiss Federal Biodiversity Strategy identifies the greatest threats to biodiversity in Switzerland: habitat loss due to urban sprawl and infrastructure development, intensive agriculture, pesticides, light pollution, climate change, and a lack of connectivity. Recreational hunting does not appear as a protective factor in this analysis. Nor is it a threat in the strictest sense, but it is also not the tool it is often portrayed as.

Anyone who takes biodiversity seriously must protect habitats, promote connectivity, and reduce human impacts. Recreational hunting does none of this. It removes approximately 76,000 wild ungulates and 22,000 predators from ecosystems annually, alters social structures, creates hunting pressure and behavioral changes, and links each removal to politically determined quotas rather than ecological targets. This may have some effects in specific locations. However, to construct a blanket justification for nature conservation from this is scientifically untenable.

What awaits you here

Biodiversity crisis and the hunting narrative: Why the claim "hunting protects biodiversity" works politically but is scientifically unfounded, and what factors actually threaten biodiversity.
Selectivity and social structures. How recreational hunting changes age, gender, and social structures in wildlife populations and why this has little to do with species conservation.
Indirect effects: When hunting pressure disturbs nature. How hunted game changes habitats, becomes more nocturnal, and thereby creates new conflicts that in turn serve as justification for hunting.
Feeding and population support: Why feeding wild animals disrupts natural processes, promotes disease, and is rarely biodiversity-friendly.
Predators instead of recreational hunting. Why the return of natural regulators like wolves and lynxes is more effective for biodiversity than annual hunting quotas.
Browsing damage isn't everything. Why reducing biodiversity to forest-wildlife conflicts is too simplistic and what factors really matter.
What needs to change. Political demands for a biodiversity strategy that focuses on habitat protection instead of recreational hunting.
Argumentation. Answers to the most common justifications of the hobby hunting lobby regarding biodiversity.
Quick links. All relevant articles, studies and dossiers at a glance.

Selectivity and social structures: When culls distort populations

Recreational hunting is rarely a fine-tuned ecological regulation. It follows hunting quotas, traditions, patent rights, and individual preferences. Some animals are preferentially hunted, others are spared. This alters age and sex structures within populations and can have far-reaching consequences for species with complex social behavior.

In red deer, for example, studies show that the targeted removal of experienced dominant animals destabilizes migration patterns, spatial behavior, and reproductive dynamics. Young, inexperienced animals assume roles for which they are socially unprepared. The result: disordered groups, increased restlessness, and heightened browsing pressure, because the animals behave differently in their escape routes than in stable social groups. Prof. Dr. Josef H. Reichholf describes the mechanism as follows: "Hunting doesn't regulate. It creates overpopulated and suppressed populations." Population ecology shows that intensive hunting triggers compensatory increases in reproduction: earlier sexual maturity, larger litters, and higher offspring survival rates. The more intensive the hunting, the more offspring are produced.

The effect is particularly well-documented in foxes. In heavily hunted populations, the average age drops drastically, territorial structures collapse, and the reproduction rate increases. In Switzerland, around 20,000 red foxes are killed annually, yet the populations remain stable or even grow. Luxembourg placed the fox under protection in 2015 and has since documented no population explosion, but rather a 20 percent reduction in the fox tapeworm infection rate, because stable social structures slow the spread of parasites.

What the recreational hunting lobby calls "population control" is in reality a periodic harvest of wild game that often stabilizes or increases populations while destroying social structures essential for the functioning of ecosystems. This is not biodiversity conservation. It is an intervention that replaces ecological complexity with simplified hunting quotas.

More on this topic: Why recreational hunting fails as a means of population control and fox hunting without facts: How Hunting Switzerland invents problems

Indirect effects: When hunting pressure disturbs nature

Recreational hunting not only affects the number of animals living in an area, but above all, their behavior. Under hunting pressure, wild animals profoundly alter their spatial behavior: they avoid open areas, retreat into dense forests, and shift their activities to the night. Professor Ilse Storch, head of the Chair of Wildlife Ecology and Wildlife Management at the University of Freiburg, clarifies: "Humans are perceived as a threat." This is not habituation, but a biologically based stress response to a deadly threat.

These behavioral changes have consequences that extend far beyond the individual animal. When deer and stags avoid open areas and concentrate in the forest, browsing pressure on young trees, shrubs, and ground vegetation increases. What recreational hunters describe as "forest protection" thus sometimes produces precisely the browsing damage they claim to combat: because driven hunts and battues drive wild animals into panicked refuges, where they then graze on the available vegetation under heightened stress. The connection is well-documented scientifically: A 14-year study of blood samples from hunted and deceased ungulates for cortisol concentration shows that animals from driven hunts exhibit drastically higher levels of this stress hormone than those that died undisturbed.

Nighttime activity has additional consequences: when wild animals shift their movements to the darkness, the risk of wildlife collisions on roads increases. A US study in Wisconsin demonstrated that the return of wolves, which naturally regulate wildlife behavior, reduced wildlife collisions by 24 percent. Recreational hunting, on the other hand, generates precisely those flight responses and stress reactions that promote wildlife collisions, and then uses the resulting accident statistics as an argument for increasing the number of animals killed. It's a self-perpetuating cycle.

These indirect effects are serious for biodiversity. When hunted game avoids certain areas, its ecological contribution is lost: seed dispersal, the mosaic of vegetation created by selective feeding, and the trampling effects that create microhabitats. The landscape becomes more uniform instead of more diverse. Recreational hunting not only alters populations, it alters landscapes.

More on this topic: Studies on the impact of hunting on wild animals and wildlife, fear of death and lack of stunning.

Feeding and population support: When nature conservation becomes production

In many hunting areas, wild animals are fed, officially out of "necessity" during harsh winters, but in practice often to bolster populations or to direct wildlife to specific areas. Feeding fundamentally alters natural selection mechanisms. What nature regulates through food scarcity, disease, and winter mortality is overridden by human intervention: More animals survive the winter than the habitat can naturally support.

The consequences for biodiversity are well-documented. Feeding stations create unnatural concentrations of many animals in a confined space. This promotes the transmission of parasites and diseases, increases browsing pressure in the immediate vicinity, and disrupts the natural distribution of wildlife. Studies on the spread of tuberculosis in deer in alpine regions show that feeding stations act as hotspots for disease transmission. What is presented as an animal welfare measure is detrimental to the health of the population.

The contradiction with biodiversity is fundamental: feeding keeps populations at a level that would not exist without human intervention. These artificially increased populations then create the browsing pressure that, in turn, serves as an argument for increased hunting. Recreational hunting thus creates its own need for regulation. Those who feed wild animals in winter so that enough animals can be hunted in autumn are not practicing biodiversity policy, but rather population management – a production logic that has nothing to do with nature conservation.

A biodiversity strategy worthy of the name relies on natural winter mortality as a regulating element, on site-adapted habitats that allow wildlife to survive even without feeding, and on a wildlife policy that does not depend on shooting quotas and hunting license sales.

More on this topic: Alternatives to hunting: What really helps without killing animals and Hunting and animal welfare: What the practice means for wild animals

Predators instead of recreational hunting: What natural regulation achieves

The most effective regulators of ungulate populations are not recreational hunters with rifles and culling plans, but predators: wolves, lynxes, and bears. These species have shaped the ecosystems in which biodiversity arises for millennia. From a biodiversity perspective, their return to Switzerland is one of the most important developments of recent decades.

The ecological impact of predators extends far beyond simply reducing prey populations. The "landscape of fear" effect describes how the mere presence of wolves alters the spatial behavior of deer and elk: The animals avoid certain areas, change locations more frequently, and spend less time in sensitive areas. Vegetation in these areas can recover: Young trees grow back, riparian vegetation stabilizes, and new habitats for insects, birds, and small mammals emerge. In Yellowstone National Park, this cascade was scientifically documented after the reintroduction of wolves in 1995: Altered moose movements led to the regeneration of willows and aspens, which in turn strengthened beaver, fish, and songbird populations.

Similar patterns are evident in Switzerland. In Graubünden, the return of the wolf in certain areas has already contributed to lowering the roe deer population and reducing the need for special hunting . The forestry association welcomes this development because it reduces natural browsing pressure. The lynx has demonstrably reduced roe deer populations in regions such as Toggenburg, Uri, the Bernese Oberland, and Solothurn. A study of 3,000 wolf scat samples in Germany revealed that over 96 percent of the remains came from roe deer, red deer, and wild boar—precisely the species that recreational hunting claims to "regulate."

The crucial difference: Predators regulate populations selectively, continuously, and without the destabilizing side effects of human hunting. They preferentially target sick, weak, and inexperienced individuals. They do not create seasonal stress peaks. They require no culling plans, no patent sales, and no politically negotiated quotas. The increasing wolf culling in Switzerland thus counteracts precisely the natural regulation that would be most effective for biodiversity. Anyone who wants biodiversity must accept predators, not fight them.

More on this topic: The wolf in Europe – how politics and recreational hunting undermine species conservation and wildlife corridors and habitat connectivity

Grazing damage isn't everything: Why the biodiversity debate falls short

The conflict between forest and wildlife dominates the public debate about recreational hunting and nature. Too many deer are eating too many young trees, goes the standard argument. The solution: more culling. What's overlooked is that browsing damage is a symptom, not a cause. And biodiversity is much more than just whether a particular young tree survives.

The biggest drivers of biodiversity loss in Switzerland are not deer and stags. They are habitat loss due to settlement growth and infrastructure, intensive agriculture with the use of pesticides and fertilizers, habitat fragmentation by roads and fences, climate change with shifts in vegetation zones and phenologies, and light pollution, which disrupts nocturnal insects and their food webs. In Switzerland's Red List, over a third of all species studied are classified as threatened. This loss of species primarily affects insects, amphibians, reptiles, and plants—groups that are not at all targeted by recreational hunting.

Browsing pressure has several causes that go beyond the sheer number of deer: monocultures in forestry offer less alternative food than structurally diverse mixed forests. Climate stress weakens young trees and makes them more susceptible to damage. And the hunting-related retreat of wild animals into the forest concentrates browsing pressure on a smaller area. The Swiss National Park has demonstrated for over a century that forests can exist and regenerate naturally without recreational hunting if habitats are intact and natural dynamics are allowed to unfold.

Biodiversity conservation requires a holistic perspective: forest conversion towards climate-resilient mixed forests, reduction of pesticides, networking of habitats through wildlife corridors , promotion of predators, removal of migration barriers, and protection of wetlands, dry meadows, and forest edges. None of this requires an armed militia with hunting rights. Those who reduce the biodiversity debate to the forest-wildlife conflict and present recreational hunting as the solution are diverting attention from the real causes and perpetuating a narrative that primarily secures the continuation of recreational hunting, not the preservation of biodiversity.

More on this topic: Hobby hunting and climate change , and Geneva and the hunting ban

Geneva's counter-example: Biodiversity without recreational hunting

The strongest empirical argument against the thesis "hobby hunting protects biodiversity" lies in the heart of Switzerland. In 1974, the canton of Geneva abolished militia hunting by popular vote. Since then, wildlife management has been carried out exclusively by state-employed game wardens, according to clear criteria, transparently and without a trophy-based logic.

The biodiversity assessment after more than 50 years is clear: Fauna inspector Gottlieb Dandliker describes a significant increase in the bird population from a few hundred to 30,000 winter visitors. A network of diverse habitats has developed throughout the canton, providing a home for a multitude of animals and plants, some of them rare. A long-term study confirms this substantial increase in biodiversity. Wild animals use Geneva as a refuge from surrounding, hunted areas. The population benefits from more frequent, less stressful nature observations and greater social acceptance of wildlife in urban areas.

The Geneva model not only refutes the claim that recreational hunting is indispensable for biodiversity, but also demonstrates that the opposite is possible: greater biodiversity without recreational hunting. The avoidance of seasonal hunting pressure, driven hunts, feeding stations, and the systematic removal of predators creates conditions under which natural processes can once again take effect. Geneva is living proof that a wildlife policy without militia hunting not only works, but actually delivers better results for biodiversity.

More on this topic: Hunting in the Canton of Geneva: Hunting ban, psychology and perception of violence , and an initiative calls for "game wardens instead of hunters"

What would need to change

Biodiversity strategy without dependence on hunting: Nature conservation must focus on habitat protection, connectivity, and reducing human impacts, not on annual hunting quotas. Recreational hunting must not be considered a standard instrument of biodiversity policy. Model initiative: Wildlife corridors and quiet zones
Promoting predators as natural regulators: Wolves, lynxes, and other predators are the most effective instruments for regulating ungulate populations and promoting natural ecosystem dynamics. Their return must be politically supported, not countered by culling.
Independent biodiversity evaluation of recreational hunting: Scientifically independent studies are needed to determine whether and how recreational hunting actually impacts biodiversity in Switzerland, both positively and negatively. The current self-assessment by recreational hunters as "conservationists" is insufficient evidence. Model initiative: Transparent hunting statistics
Feeding wild animals should be prohibited outside of clearly defined emergency situations: Supporting populations through feeding contradicts a biodiversity strategy that relies on natural processes. The definition of "emergency situation" must be scientifically justified and regulated uniformly across all cantons.
Decoupling forest-wildlife conflicts from the legitimacy of recreational hunting: Browsing problems are primarily a result of habitat loss, climate change, and hunting-related changes in behavior. Biodiversity policy must address these causes instead of reflexively calling for more culls.

Argumentation

"Recreational hunting protects biodiversity." Biodiversity depends primarily on habitats, connectivity, soil life, insects, and natural processes. Recreational hunting selectively impacts individual species, alters social structures, and, through hunting pressure, creates behavioral changes that generate new conflicts. A blanket justification for a recreational activity that kills animals according to a quota is not scientifically tenable.

“Without recreational hunting, the forest would be destroyed by browsing damage.” Browsing is a real problem, but the causes lie deeper: habitat loss, climate stress, monocultures in forestry, and the hunting-related retreat of wild animals into the forest. Studies show that intensive hunting pressure drives wild animals precisely to where they cause the most damage. The Swiss National Park has demonstrated for over a hundred years that forests can thrive without recreational hunting.

"Predators alone cannot regulate wildlife populations." Predators have regulated ungulate populations for millennia more effectively than any human culling plan. The return of the wolf to Graubünden has reduced the deer population and decreased the need for special hunts. In Wisconsin, the wolf's return reduced wildlife collisions by 24 percent. The claim that predators "aren't enough" primarily serves to maintain the recreational hunting system.

"Feeding is necessary for wild animals to survive the winter." However, feeding wild animals alters natural selection mechanisms, promotes the transmission of diseases and parasites, leads to unnatural concentrations of many animals in a few locations, and encourages populations to exceed the levels that the habitat can naturally support. Nature has functioned for millennia without human feeding. Feeding often serves not animal welfare, but rather to bolster populations for the next hunting season.

“Biodiversity needs active management, not inaction.” Active management means protecting and connecting habitats and reducing human impacts, not routinely killing animals. Game warden structures based on the Geneva model, predator promotion, habitat management, and wildlife corridors are examples of active management. Recreational hunting with its trophy logic, quotas, and license sales is a system of exploitation, not a conservation concept.

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Our claim

The claim that recreational hunting protects biodiversity does not stand up to scientific scrutiny. Biodiversity arises from intact habitats, natural processes, and functioning food webs, not from hunting quotas and hunting regulations. A conservation policy that treats recreational hunting as a standard tool confuses use with protection. This dossier is continuously updated as new studies, data, or political developments necessitate it.

We document what works without recreational hunting: renaturation projects, wildlife corridors, areas managed extensively, the return of predators, and hunting-free zones. Do you know of an example from your region, canton, or municipality? Write to us . We will compile a documented overview with long-term effects, as a counter-argument to the narrative that claims nature would perish without recreational hunting.

More on the topic of hobby hunting: In our dossier on hunting, we compile fact checks, analyses and background reports.