Stop fox hunting – write to the Grand Council of Bern
The canton of Bern is a licence hunting canton: between 2,000 and 3,500 foxes are shot here every year – most of them end up in the rubbish. On 3 December 2025, GLP cantonal councillor Casimir von Arx submitted motion 351-2025, co-sponsored by the SP, SVP, Greens, EVP and FDP. The demand was for a scientifically monitored field trial: what effect does abandoning fox hunting have?
The cantonal government rejected it by decision of 6 May 2026. Its reasoning does not contain a single study. Remarkably, it itself concedes that hunting non-threatened species such as the fox is «to all intents and purposes an end in itself» and does not have to fulfil any explicit regulatory mandate. In doing so, the government confirms precisely what hobby hunting publicly disputes.
Now the Grand Council will decide – probably in the autumn 2026 session. The cross-party sponsorship of the motion shows that support for a fact-based review is also growing beyond traditional animal welfare circles.
You can do something, no matter which canton you live in. Contact your cantonal councillor or your National Councillor directly. This is legal, effective and takes only a little time.
Important: don't rely on email alone. We have received feedback from several cantons that messages about hobby hunting of foxes sometimes come back as undeliverable. Whether this is due to faulty addresses or to a deliberate filter cannot be determined from the outside. It is therefore better to use several channels: write a letter, make a phone call or seek a personal conversation. You can also contact the parties and parliamentary groups directly – a message to the party or group secretariat is often more effective than one to individual council members. A phone call or a letter cannot be filtered out as easily as an email and often leaves more of an impression.
Template letter – copy this text into your email program
Subject: Motion 351-2025 fox hunting – please vote Yes
Dear Ms [Name] / Dear Mr [Name]
As a citizen, I am contacting you directly because the Grand Council will decide on motion 351-2025 by cantonal councillor Casimir von Arx (GLP) in the autumn 2026 session. The motion calls for a scientifically monitored field trial on abandoning fox hunting.
In its recommendation to reject dated 6 May 2026, the cantonal government itself concedes that hunting non-threatened species such as the fox is «effectively an end in itself». That is a remarkable admission – and it refutes the main argument that fox hunting serves a substantive purpose.
The research is unequivocal: the canton of Lucerne, the only canton that systematically records the health status of foxes that have been killed, shows that out of 2’217 animals killed, only 39 had any evidence of disease – over 98 per cent were healthy. Compensation effects quickly offset the kills (Baker & Harris 2006; Rushton et al. 2006; Kämmerle et al. 2019). In the case of the fox tapeworm, hunting is even counterproductive: a French study from the Nancy area (Comte et al. 2017) showed that intensive hunting increased prevalence from 44 to 55 per cent. In Luxembourg, it fell from around 40 to below 10 per cent after the hunting ban in 2015.
Rabies was not defeated by hunting, but by vaccine bait programmes from 1978 onwards. Foxes are natural protective factors against tick-borne diseases: they regulate mice and rodents as reservoirs for the ticks that transmit borreliosis. The canton of Geneva has managed without hobby hunting since 1974 – and thus effectively also without fox hunting: only state game wardens are allowed to intervene there, with not a single regulatory kill in the last two years. The Swiss National Park has been hunting-free since 1914 – without any population explosion, without more epidemics.
In 2025, the canton of Zug was the only canton to commission an independent study on fox hunting (SWILD, May 2026). The result: fox hunting regulates nothing, does not improve disease control, and non-lethal methods are superior. The hunting commission subsequently stopped proactively promoting fox hunting.
The motion does not demand an immediate cessation, but rather a scientifically monitored field trial. That is precisely the step the canton of Zug has already taken. I ask you to approve Motion 351-2025 and thereby open the way to an evidence-based fox hunting policy in the canton of Bern.
Kind regards
[Your name]
[Your place of residence]
What was decided in the canton of Bern
Motion 351-2025, submitted on 3 December 2025 by GLP cantonal councillor Casimir von Arx, co-sponsored by representatives from the SP, SVP, Greens, EVP and FDP. Demanded: a time-limited, scientifically monitored field trial on abstaining from fox hunting in a suitable area.
Government Council Decision 446/2026 of 6 May 2026: Rejection. Reasoning: The red fox is huntable under the hunting act and not endangered, so species protection grounds do not apply. In doing so, the Government Council itself concedes that hobby hunting of non-endangered species is «in fact an end in itself» and need not fulfil any explicit regulatory mandate. First signatory von Arx publicly criticised on Radio BeO that the government was missing the actual concern.
Bern is a licence hunting canton: anyone who obtains a licence may hunt across the entire canton, without responsibility for a particular hunting ground. Each year 2’000 to 3’500 foxes are killed, most of them ending up as waste. The decision now lies with the Grand Council, presumably in the autumn 2026 session.
What science says
Population regulation: Compensation effects quickly offset kills. Even intensive hunting shows no lasting effect on the population (Baker et al. 2002; Kämmerle et al. 2019; Rushton et al. 2006).
Rabies: It was not hunting but oral vaccine bait programmes from 1978 onwards that defeated rabies. Lethal methods can intensify epidemics, because hunted animals become more mobile.
Fox tapeworm: Intensive hunting increases prevalence (a French study from the Nancy area, Comte et al. 2017). Deworming bait, by contrast, reduced the infection risk in the Starnberg district by 97 to 99 per cent. In Luxembourg, prevalence fell from around 40 to below 10 per cent after the hunting ban in 2015.
Lyme disease: Foxes regulate rodents as tick reservoirs. In areas with higher predator activity, 10–20 per cent fewer tick-carrying rodents occur (Hofmeester et al., Proc. Royal Soc. B). Switzerland is among the European hotspots for the fox tapeworm.
Geneva / National Park: Geneva has managed without hobby hunting since 1974 – and thus in effect also without fox hunting. The Swiss National Park has been hunting-free since 1914. No population explosions, no worse disease situation.
Complete overview of studies: Studies: Impact of hobby hunting on wild animals
The Zug SWILD report
The canton of Zug is so far the only Swiss canton to have responded to Pascal Wolf's fox hunting petition with a genuine scientific study. In autumn 2025 the Department of the Interior commissioned a specialist report from SWILD – Urban Ecology, Wildlife Research, Communication. The second version was published in May 2026 and presented to the hunting commission on 16 June 2026.
The result is unambiguous: the fox hunting currently practised cannot regulate populations sustainably, does not improve disease control, and is inferior to non-lethal methods when it comes to protecting livestock. The experiences from Geneva (since 1974) and Luxembourg (since 2015) confirm it: wildlife management works without hobby hunting of the red fox.
The full study is publicly accessible: Scientific foundations on fox hunting
Where to find the contact details
The Bern Grand Council has 160 members. You can find the current composition, along with the profile pages of the individual councillors, via the official member search at gr.be.ch – Members. Die offiziellen Ratsadressen haben die Form vorname.nachname@gr-gc.be.ch. Alternativ erreichst du die Mitglieder über ihre Fraktions- oder Parteisekretariate.
What has happened so far in the canton of Bern
📌 Fox hunting: Bern government refuses to examine the evidence
The cantonal government rejects the motion – and in doing so inadvertently confirms that fox hunting is an end in itself.
📌 Fox hunting panel in Utzenstorf: four hobby hunters, one non-hunter and no genuine dialogue
How the debate is conducted on the ground when hobby hunting keeps to itself.
📌 Obedience test for hunting dogs during the breeding and rearing season: Bern hunting association shoots up the forest
How the Bern hunting association has shooting take place of all times during the most sensitive period in the forest.
🧠 The psychology of hobby hunting in the canton of Bern
What drives the association and the government to cling to fox hunting, even though politics has long since moved on.
📌 Hobby hunters as false wildlife experts
How Pascal Wolf initiated petitions and parliamentary motions in over 12 cantons – and what the authorities made of them.
📌 Killed by the million – for nothing: new study exposes hunters' tall tales
Study in «Biological Conservation»: kills reduce neither populations nor damage.