Wolves roam between Switzerland and France

Wolves use their habitat independently of national borders. Monitoring cross-border packs is challenging, but provides interesting insights.

Editorial team Wild beim Wild — 28 October 2020

A male and a female wolf who have established packs in the Valais Chablais and the Vaud Jura respectively have immigrated from France.

This is shown by a study by the Kora Foundation, which was able to analyse genetic material from two Swiss wolves and compare it with French samples.

The research shows that predators roam between Switzerland and France, as Kora reported.

For example, the male of the Chablais pack (M88) was already identified during French genetic monitoring in January/February 2018 in the Haute Maurienne pack (Savoie department), most likely his place of birth. The male M88 founded the pack in the Valais Chablais together with the female F43 in 2019.

Records of wolves in France last winter (31.10.2019 to 01.04.2020), broken down by region: Pyrenees (orange), Alps (blue), and Vosges (green). Green circles indicate established packs, orange circles indicate 1–2 wolves with no reproduction, blue dashed circles indicate wolf territories yet to be confirmed. © Office Français de la Biodiversité (OFB)

The female F1 of the Marchairuz pack in the Vaud Jura was first identified in December 2016 in Premanon on the French side, near the La Dôle – St. Cergue region in Switzerland. Together with the male M95, she founded the Marchairuz pack in 2019.

The analysis of the various samples was carried out by the Laboratory of Conservation Biology at the University of Lausanne and the Antagene laboratory, a partner of the French Office for Biodiversity.

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