Fox management instead of fox hunting: Bern motion calls for a replacement
Six parliamentary groups in the canton of Bern are calling for a system change: away from hobby hunting of the fox, towards scientifically grounded fox management.
In the Bernese Grand Council, a cross-party motion calls for a system change in fox policy.
On 8 September 2026, GLP Grand Councillor Casimir von Arx submitted the motion «From Fox Hunting to Fox Management» (Motion 237-2026, Item 2026.GRPARL.559). The motion demands that the current hobby hunting of the fox be replaced by scientifically grounded fox management.
The motion is supported by six council members from five parliamentary groups: Casimir von Arx (GLP), Mathias Müller (SVP), Dominique Bühler (Greens), Susanne Clauss (SP), Claudine Esseiva (FDP) and Manuel C. Widmer (Greens).
From field trial to system change
The new motion was preceded by a less far-reaching one. In December 2025, von Arx had initially called for a scientifically accompanied field trial on forgoing fox hunting (Motion 351-2025, Item 2025.GRPARL.1535). The cantonal government rejected the request on 6 May 2026, stating that under federal law the fox is a huntable species, and that restrictions are only warranted for species conservation reasons. A remarkable passage, formulated by the government itself, states that hunting non-threatened species such as the fox is «in effect an end in itself» and need not fulfil any explicit regulatory mandate. This confirms precisely the point that the hobby hunting lobby usually disputes in public. The motioners, in turn, described the scientific evidence base for the purposes used to justify fox hunting as «extremely thin». They do not dispute that problems with foxes occasionally arise, but ask what contribution hunting ultimately makes to solving them.
Rather than accepting the rejection, von Arx withdrew the earlier motion and submitted a more far-reaching one. The proposed trial became a demand for a system change. The professional basis for this was provided by the canton of Zug: it was the first canton in Switzerland to commission an independent expert report on fox hunting (SWILD, May 2026). Because this report already answers the questions the field trial was meant to address, the new motion skips the test phase and calls directly for implementation.
What the motion demands
The motion instructs the Governing Council on four points. The canton should systematically collect and regularly publish data on the distribution of foxes and on actual damage caused. On this basis, the current fox hunting should be replaced by scientifically grounded fox management that promotes coexistence between humans and foxes with as little conflict as possible and limits animal suffering. Priority should be given to non-lethal measures such as securing waste, deterrence and effective fencing to protect wild and domestic animals. Finally, the Governing Council should present the necessary legal amendments.
Such fox management does not mean remaining inactive in the face of concrete problems. Sick or injured animals, as well as individual foxes causing conflict, could still be killed by the wildlife wardens. What is at issue is not targeted intervention in individual cases, but blanket hobby hunting without demonstrable benefit.
What the Bern figures show
A look at the federal hunting statistics supports the thrust of the motion. The number of foxes killed in the canton of Bern has fallen sharply over the last 25 years: from peak values of around 8,000 animals annually in the 1990s to a recent 2,000 to 2,500. A corresponding collapse in the fox population is not documented, nor are the consequences regularly prophesied by hunting associations.
At the same time, significantly more dead foxes are now registered in the canton of Bern as fallen game than are killed through hunting. The recorded fallen game amounts to around 3,400 to 3,500 animals per year, the largest share of which is due to traffic accidents. Kill figures are therefore not suitable as a direct measure of population size; they also reflect hunting practice, reporting behaviour and recording intensity. Source: Federal Hunting Statistics of the FOEN, own analysis.
Scientific basis
The Zug expert report by SWILD concludes that the currently common, spatially poorly coordinated fox hunting cannot be expected to achieve sustainable regulation of fox populations. Higher reproduction, better survival rates and immigration can compensate for kills. Moreover, reliable local and regional population data, which would allow a regulatory effect to be properly verified, are lacking.
Hunting is also not a reliable measure for disease control. The report points out that increased mobility and immigration in hunted populations can promote the spread of disease. In the case of rabies, the oral vaccination campaign proved to be the decisive measure for successful control; intensive hunting had previously not brought comparable success. For the protection of wild and domestic animals, the report places non-lethal measures at the centre: secure enclosures and fences, improved farm management and limiting human-made food sources.
The canton of Geneva shows what such an approach can look like: hobby hunting has been banned there since 1974. Only state game wardens intervene there, and in the last two years without a single regulatory kill of a fox. Anyone who praises Geneva is thereby speaking out against regular hobby hunting of the fox, not in favour of it.
What happens next
The cross-party backing is decisive. The fact that a motion to move away from routine fox hunting is supported from the SVP to the Greens shows that the question of the purpose, effect and proportionality of hobby hunting of the fox has long since extended beyond traditional animal welfare circles.
The Governing Council will first comment on the motion. Deliberation in the Grand Council is not expected before spring or summer 2027 at the earliest.
The full motion document is available here: Motion «From fox hunting to fox management» (PDF)
Anyone who wants to get involved will find a template letter to the Grand Council on our action page: Stop fox hunting, write to the Bern Grand Council.
Fox Hunting: Bern Government Refuses to Examine the Evidence
The Governing Council rejects the preceding motion without examining the evidence.
Fox Hunting Panel Discussion in Utzenstorf: Four Hobby Hunters, One Non-Hunter and No Real Dialogue
How the debate is conducted locally when hobby hunters keep it among themselves.
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.
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