Federal government strengthens herd protection for the 2022 alpine season

The federal government is stepping up herd protection for the 2022 alpine season. More funding for livestock guardian dogs and fencing is intended to prevent attacks.

Editorial team Wild beim Wild — 23 May 2022

The number of wolves and packs in Switzerland is increasing.

To reduce damage to livestock, the federal government is providing additional financial resources for herd protection measures for the 2022 alpine season. Livestock keepers and alpine farmers now have the opportunity to submit applications to the cantons for the financing of immediate measures. The federal government subsequently reimburses the cantons for 80% of the costs.

For several years now, the wolf population and its distribution in Switzerland have been increasing. As a result, there are also more contacts between wolves and livestock, which can lead to increased damage to livestock, particularly during the alpine summer. Herd protection measures make an important contribution to preventing such damage. To support traditional alpine farming, the federal government has allocated additional funding totalling 5.7 million francs to strengthen herd protection. This is intended to finance various immediate measures.

The Federal Office for the Environment (FOEN), together with the relevant federal agencies and the cantons, and in consultation with agricultural circles, has defined a set of measures. These include, for instance, co-financing auxiliary staff who support herders in implementing herd protection measures. Mobile shelters on remote alps can also be funded. Alpine farmers can submit corresponding applications to the cantonal specialist offices. The cantons review the applications and can request that the federal government reimburse 80% of the costs. The additional immediate measures decided by the federal government for the 2022 alpine summer complement the established herd protection measures (livestock guardian dogs, fencing) and will be incorporated into the existing herd protection implementation guidelines.

To better support the enforcement of herd protection and wolf management, the FOEN is supplementing the Concept Wolf Switzerland and the herd protection enforcement guidelines with further tools ahead of the alpine season, for example with a list of criteria for assessing which alpine pastures can be reasonably protected and which cannot.

Parliament is currently working on a new bill to amend the hunting act, which is intended to allow for more flexible handling of wolves.

Dossier: Wolf in Switzerland: facts, politics and the limits of hunting

More on the subject of recreational hunting: The scientific evidence is presented in the overview Studies on the Effects of Recreational Hunting.

The position of IG Wild beim Wild: IG Wild beim Wild rejects recreational hunting. Our model is the canton of Geneva, which has managed without recreational hunting since 1974: without hunting seasons, without hunting dogs, without driven hunts, without high seats, without the animal cruelty and crime that go hand in hand with hunting season elsewhere. What has worked there for over fifty years disproves every position paper by JagdSchweiz. An association that bases its policy on claims it refutes in its own documents is not a professional organisation, but a factory for misinformation.

Wild beim Wild editorial team

All articles are written by IG Wild beim Wild as well as by external co-authors. Research, structuring and editorial processes may be supported by AI-assisted tools.