Red deer Switzerland: Returned and demoted to a cull target

The red deer is Switzerland's largest wild animal. After being exterminated around 1850, it fought its way back under its own power. Yet instead of celebrating its comeback as a species conservation success story, recreational hunters view it primarily as a problem to be “regulated”. Over 13’000 red deer are shot every year, almost twice as many as in 2000, while its habitat is systematically being squeezed.

Profile

The red deer (Cervus elaphus) is the largest free-living mammal in Switzerland. A fully grown stag reaches a shoulder height of 1.20 to 1.50 metres and weighs between 170 and 220 kilograms. The hind is considerably smaller, weighing 90 to 130 kilograms. The animal is thus around eight times heavier than a roe deer. In summer the red deer wears a reddish-brown coat, which changes to a greyish-brown one in winter. Only the males grow antlers each year, which can reach up to 1.50 metres in height and weigh around six kilograms.

Biology and Way of Life

The red deer is a typical long-distance migrator. Between its summer and winter ranges it covers distances of dozens of kilometres. Hinds live in family groups, which join together into larger herds in winter. Outside the rutting season, stags form their own bachelor groups. The rut takes place between mid-September and mid-October. During this period the roaring of the stags can be heard from far away. After a gestation period of around 34 weeks, the hind usually gives birth to a single calf in June.

Originally, the red deer was an inhabitant of open and semi-open landscapes. In Switzerland, however, recreational hunting pressure and growing human disturbance have driven it largely into the forest. Researchers from ZHAW and HAFL have shown that red deer on the Swiss Plateau are now almost entirely nocturnal (Red Deer Mittelland research project, HAFL/BAFU, 2024). During the day they hide in dense thickets, emerging to feed only at dusk. This enforced nocturnal activity is not a natural trait but a direct consequence of persecution and disturbance by recreational hunters.

Food

The red deer is an intermediate feeder. Its diet comprises grasses and herbs (around two thirds), supplemented by bark, needles, leaves and tree fruits. In winter, when snow cover prevents grazing, it turns to bark, lichens, mosses and conifer shoots. A single animal needs 8 to 20 kilograms of food a day. The fact that red deer strip bark and browse young trees more heavily in winter is not a characteristic of the species but a consequence of habitat restriction: recreational hunters have pushed it into the forest, where the natural food supply is inadequate for an open-country dweller.

Extermination and return: a history of human failure

Around 1850, the red deer had been completely exterminated in Switzerland. The causes were unregulated popular hunting, which had been declared a public right with the French Revolution, combined with large-scale deforestation that robbed the deer of its habitat. Poverty and famine drove the population to massively overexploit wildlife populations. Effective protective legislation was lacking. It was recreational hunting in its original historical form that wiped the red deer from Switzerland.

The return

Only the federal hunting act of 1875, which restricted hunting seasons and protected female animals, laid the foundation for a recovery. From 1870, the first red deer migrated from the Austrian Montafon into the canton of Grisons. In 1926, two stags and three hinds were released in the Val Ferret in Valais. Since then, the red deer has spread again under its own steam across large parts of the Swiss Alps and pre-Alps. Since the 1990s, it has also been colonising parts of the Jura from France, and since around 2005 local populations have been establishing themselves on the Central Plateau (Red Deer Central Plateau research project, FOEN/cantons, since 2011).

For 2025, the cantons report a population of 39,186 red deer in the Federal Hunting Statistics, most of them in the Alpine cantons of Grisons, Valais and Ticino. In 2000 there were 23,332 (Hunting statistics 2000 to 2025). Grisons estimates its spring 2026 population at 13,485 animals (2020: around 16,300), while Ticino reported a population of 7,300 red deer for 2025.

This return is not an achievement of recreational hunters. It is the result of statutory protection provisions, natural immigration and the recovery of the forest. The red deer earned its comeback by itself.

More on this: Dossier: Hunting and Biodiversity

Hunting: From protected species to target

Under the Federal Act on Hunting and the Protection of Wild Mammals and Birds (JSG, Art. 5 para. 1 lit. a), the red deer is a huntable species. The cantons set hunting seasons, kill quotas and hunting methods. In most cantons the hunting year runs from 1 April to 31 March of the following year. Hunting seasons vary considerably from canton to canton. The red deer is not on the Red List of endangered species. This distinguishes it from the brown hare, which is hunted despite its Red List status.

Licence hunting vs. territorial hunting

As with all wildlife species in Switzerland, two different hunting systems apply to red deer. In 16 cantons, licence hunting prevails: recreational hunters buy a cantonal licence and hunt independently, without being tied to a particular hunting ground and without taking on responsibility for it. In nine cantons, including St. Gallen, Thurgau, Aargau and Zurich, territorial hunting is practised: hunting parties lease a hunting ground and thereby also formally assume game-management duties. Geneva has had no recreational hunting since 1974. Under both systems, kill figures for red deer keep rising because the cantons continuously raise their kill quotas.

The scale of the killing

In 2025, recreational hunters in Switzerland killed 13,636 red deer, with a further 249 special kills and 1,407 animals found dead (Swiss Hunting Statistics 2025). In 2000 the figure was 7,036 red deer killed; today it is almost twice as many. In the canton of St. Gallen, 918 red deer were shot in 2025 (2022: 756). In the Grisons, the red deer's main canton, a total of 4,630 deer were killed in 2025 according to the canton, and the kill quota for 2026 provides for 4,616 animals, including 2,514 females (4,616 red deer: what the Grisons hunting plan reveals – and what it does not prove). What the high hunt does not deliver in hinds and calves is made up by the special hunt in late autumn in the winter ranges (Special hunt in Grisons: protected in September, cleared for killing in December). The cantons regularly set the target of killing 15 to 20 per cent of the estimated population each year in order to 'stabilise' it. That kills have almost doubled since 2000 while the reported population has nevertheless grown by around two thirds raises questions that recreational hunters do not want to answer.

The Trophy Cult

Because of its impressive antlers, the red deer has been a coveted trophy animal for centuries. In Switzerland, after the recreational hunting season, many cantons hold so-called Hegeschauen, at which the antlers of the animals killed are publicly displayed and assessed. In the canton of St. Gallen, up to 800 recreational hunters attend these events (Office for Nature, Hunting and Fisheries, St. Gallen, 2022). The trophy cult makes it clear that, for a considerable part of the recreational hunting community, red deer hunting is not wildlife management but pleasure.

The Forest Damage Narrative: Why the Red Deer Is Made the Scapegoat

The recreational hunting lobby's central argument for intensive hunting of red deer is that the deer destroys the forest. Browsing damage to saplings and bark stripping can indeed cause considerable local damage, particularly to silver fir, oak, maple and yew (WSL, Waldwissen.net). In the canton of Zurich, bark-stripping damage by red deer threatens internationally significant yew stands on the Albis (Odermatt/Wasem, WSL, 2018). The 2025 Forest Report by FOEN and WSL states that wildlife populations that are too high in some areas impair natural regeneration and the forest's capacity to adapt to climate change.

What the narrative leaves out

In Switzerland, the forest-wildlife debate is conducted almost exclusively from the perspective of forestry and recreational hunting. In the process, key connections are systematically ignored.

First: the red deer is an open-country animal that has been pushed into the forest by human disturbance, hunting pressure and habitat destruction. Research by WSL and ZHAW shows that, when left in sufficient peace, red deer prefer open pastures between 2,000 and 2,700 metres and are also visible there during the day. In Switzerland, however, the red deer has been forced into the forest by leisure activities, settlement pressure and recreational hunting itself, where it has to feed on bark and saplings because its natural food supply is lacking. Forest damage is not the cause but the symptom of failed land use.

Second: field studies by WSL in the Bern-Solothurn area have found that in many areas most browsing damage is caused not by red deer but by roe deer (SRF Wissen, 2026). Blanket attribution of forest damage to the red deer serves to legitimise high kill numbers.

Third: recreational hunting is itself a significant stress factor for the red deer. Studies from the red deer research project in eastern Switzerland (ZHAW/cantons of SG, AI, AR, 2014–2017) show that in winter red deer drastically lower their basal metabolic rate, heart rate and body temperature in order to save energy. Any disturbance during this phase, whether from recreational hunters, winter sports enthusiasts or dogs, forces the animals to flee and sharply increases their energy consumption. The consequence: the animals have to eat more, which increases browsing pressure on the forest. Recreational hunting thus aggravates precisely the problem it claims to solve.

Fourth: the Working Group on Forests and Wildlife of the Swiss Forestry Association notes in the Swiss Journal of Forestry (Krättli et al. 2025) that, according to cantonal assessments, the share of forest area with a tolerable level of game impact has fallen over the past ten years from more than two thirds to less than half. The situation is therefore getting worse, even though kill figures for red deer have been rising for years. This proves that recreational hunting does not solve the forest–wildlife problem but perpetuates it.

More on this: Why recreational hunting fails as population control

The displaced natural regulator: predators instead of recreational hunters

The red deer evolved over millions of years alongside its natural predators: wolf, lynx and brown bear. In Switzerland, all three were exterminated in the 19th century. The lynx was reintroduced from 1971 and preys mainly on roe deer and chamois. The wolf has been returning naturally from Italy and France since the 1990s. In 2025, KORA recorded 43 packs and 350 wolves in Switzerland.

Research shows that the wolf changes the behaviour and land use of the red deer. A WSL study (Kupferschmid et al., Swiss Journal of Forestry, 2016) demonstrates that wolves, as predators, have both direct effects on population size and indirect effects on the behaviour of ungulates: where wolves are present, red deer move around more often, stay in one place for shorter periods and spread browsing pressure more evenly across the landscape. Forest regeneration benefits as a result.

The Swiss Animal Protection STS states that the wolf, as a natural regulator, preferentially preys on sick, old or weakened animals, which leads to healthier wildlife populations and protects the forest from browsing damage (STS position paper, 2025). The Gruppe Wolf Schweiz puts it pointedly: «Whoever sows deer will reap wolves» (GWS press release, 2021). The high density of hoofed game in Switzerland, which in the canton of Grisons is more than three times as high as in Yellowstone National Park, is the main reason for the growing wolf population.

Instead of seeing predators as part of the solution, Swiss politics, under pressure from the recreational hunting lobby, has been pursuing preventive regulation of the wolf population since December 2023. The hunting act, revised in December 2022, allows the cantons to have entire wolf packs shot. How many wolves have been killed since then is documented by the wolf counter. This policy is ecologically counterproductive: it fights the natural regulator that could take on precisely the task at which recreational hunting has been failing for decades.

More on this: Hunting Fact Check and Dossier: Wolf in Switzerland

The red deer and wildlife corridors: an animal without freedom of movement

The red deer is a long-distance migrant that depends on continuous, permeable landscapes for its seasonal movements between summer and winter ranges. The Swiss landscape, however, is severely fragmented by motorways, railway lines, settlements and fenced agricultural land. The Federal Office for the Environment (FOEN) has defined connectivity axes for wild animals, yet almost 50 wildlife corridors remain interrupted. The A1 motorway in particular, which crosses the Central Plateau from east to west, forms an almost insurmountable barrier between the Jura and the Pre-Alps.

The research project Red Deer Central Plateau (HAFL/FOEN, 2024) has shown that red deer in the Central Plateau are able to move remarkably well, as long as no motorways stand in their way. Yet the A1 continues to prevent the connection of populations. The planned green bridges and wildlife underpasses are progressing only sluggishly.

The consequence

As long as the wildlife corridors do not function, red deer populations may suffer genetic impoverishment and die out locally. Habitat fragmentation is a structural problem that cannot be solved by killing animals. The Confederation invests millions in wildlife corridors while at the same time allowing recreational hunting to shoot thousands of red deer that are meant to use these corridors.

What needs to change

Professional wildlife management by state game wardens: The regulation of red deer must not be left to recreational hunters, whose motivation is primarily leisure enjoyment and the acquisition of trophies. Professional game wardens, as the canton of Geneva has successfully employed since 1974, are the only guarantee of science-based wildlife management that complies with animal welfare standards.
Promoting predators instead of fighting them: Wolf and lynx are the natural regulators of red deer. Instead of decimating predators under pressure from the recreational hunting lobby, Switzerland must protect and promote their populations. WSL studies show that predators reduce browsing pressure on the forest.
Habitat enhancement and quiet zones: The red deer must be able to return from the forest to its natural habitats. This requires large-scale wildlife refuges where human disturbance is prohibited, as well as the consistent maintenance of forest clearings and alpine pastures, which serve the red deer as natural grazing areas.
Accelerated implementation of wildlife corridors: The almost 50 interrupted wildlife corridors must be restored as a priority. Without connecting the populations between the Jura, the Central Plateau and the Pre-Alps, red deer management will remain patchwork.
Restricting recreational use in sensitive areas: Off-piste winter sports, mountain bike trails in wildlife habitats and drone flights over wildlife refuges massively increase red deer's energy expenditure in winter and intensify browsing pressure. Binding rules on visitor management must be enforced.
Scientifically sound monitoring instead of cantonal guesswork: According to Wildtier Schweiz, red deer population figures are in part based on rough estimates. A national, standardised monitoring system is a prerequisite for evidence-based wildlife policy.

Talking points

“The red deer destroys the forest and must therefore be hunted intensively.” The red deer is by nature an inhabitant of open country. That it causes damage in the forest is because recreational hunting, leisure activities and settlement pressure have driven it into the woods. Anyone who wants to solve the problem must remove the causes, not the symptom: create refuges, promote predators and free the red deer from its forced existence in the forest. Recreational hunting itself is part of the problem, not the solution.

“Without recreational hunting, the red deer population would explode.” In ecosystems with intact predator chains, red deer populations regulate themselves. The wolf is the most important natural regulator. A Europe-wide study (van Beeck Calkoen et al., Journal of Applied Ecology, 2023) shows that red deer density falls where wolf, lynx and bear occur together, and that this effect is strongest where human land use is low. The Geneva model, in which professional game wardens rather than recreational hunters have been responsible for wildlife management since 1974, shows that recreational hunting is not necessary.

“Recreational hunting is the only way to prevent forest damage.” Kill figures have almost doubled since 2000, yet the situation regarding forest regeneration is getting worse, according to the Swiss Forestry Association. Recreational hunting is failing at its own task. At the same time, research shows that recreational hunting actually increases browsing pressure through disturbance and stress, because disturbed animals expend more energy and must therefore feed more. A paradigm shift towards undisturbed refuge areas, predators and professional management is long overdue.

“The red deer no longer has any natural enemies and must therefore be regulated by humans.” The red deer no longer has natural enemies because humans exterminated them. Wolf and lynx are returning, but the recreational hunting lobby is politically fighting their return. Anyone who eliminates the natural regulators and then argues that humans must take over their role is operating a self-referential system that serves only one purpose: preserving the hunting privilege.

“Recreational hunting of red deer is sustainable and lawful.” Recreational hunting may be lawful, but it is “sustainable” only in the sense understood by the recreational hunting lobby: it keeps the population at a level that allows hunting to continue, without solving the structural problems of habitat fragmentation, disturbance and the lack of predators. A wildlife policy that steers the population through kills while ignoring the causes of conflict is not sustainable use but institutionalised failure.

Quick links

Articles on Wild beim Wild:

Related dossiers

sources

Federal Hunting Statistics, BAFU/Wildtier Schweiz: jagdstatistik.ch (population and kill data up to 2025, retrieved on 21.10.2026)
Pro Natura: Animal of the Year 2017, The Red Deer (pronatura.ch)
Red Deer Research Project in Eastern Switzerland, cantons SG/AI/AR in cooperation with ZHAW, 2014–2017 (waldwissen.net)
Office for Hunting and Fishing of Grisons: Red deer hunting planning 2026; Expert assessment on the protection of lactating hinds and calves during the Grisons high hunt, 28.3.2025
Red Deer Research Project Central Plateau, HAFL/FOEN/cantons BE/SO/AG, since 2011 (SRF Wissen, 2024)
Kupferschmid, A. D. et al. (2016): Direct, indirect and combined effects of wolves on forest regeneration. Schweizerische Zeitschrift für Forstwesen, 167(1): 3–12
van Beeck Calkoen, S. T. S. et al. (2023): Numerical top-down effects on red deer (Cervus elaphus) are mainly shaped by humans rather than large carnivores across Europe. Journal of Applied Ecology, 60(12): 2625–2635
Forest Report 2025, FOEN/WSL
Krättli, S. et al. (2025): Wildeinfluss auf Waldverjüngung nimmt in der Schweiz weiter zu [Wildlife impact on forest regeneration continues to rise in Switzerland]. Schweizerische Zeitschrift für Forstwesen, 176(3): 132–135 (Working Group on Forests and Wildlife, Swiss Forestry Association)
Odermatt, O.; Wasem, U. (2018): Eibenbestände von Rotwild massiv geschält [Yew stands massively stripped by red deer]. Waldschutz aktuell 1/2018, WSL
Gruppe Wolf Schweiz: press release “Wer Hirsche sät, wird Wölfe ernten” [Those who sow deer will reap wolves], 2021
Swiss Animal Protection STS: position paper Wolf in der Schweiz [The Wolf in Switzerland], 2025
Cervo Volante: Der Schweizer Rothirsch [The Swiss Red Deer] (cervovolante.com)
Federal Act on Hunting and the Protection of Wild Mammals and Birds (JSG, SR 922.0)

Our Standard

The red deer is the emblem of a failed wildlife policy. It survived its own extermination, fought its way back into Switzerland under its own steam and now once again inhabits large parts of the country. Yet instead of celebrating its return as an ecological success story, recreational hunters brand it a pest, covet it as a trophy and use it to justify ever higher kill numbers. The forest damage blamed on it is, to a large extent, the consequence of a policy that drives it into the woods, persecutes its natural predators and fragments its habitat. The conclusion is clear: Switzerland does not need more intensive killing, but a fundamentally different understanding of wild animals. Professional management by game wardens instead of recreational hunting. Predators instead of lead shot. Quiet zones instead of high seats. The Geneva model has shown for more than 50 years that this is possible. This dossier is updated continuously as new figures, studies or political developments require.

More on the topic of recreational hunting: in our hunting dossier we bring together fact checks, analyses and background reports.