Grisons hunt 2026/27: incidents, violations and developments at a glance

10.11.2026
Tue 03:12

Special hunt: no hunting day on 11 November either, so far only one weekend in three areas

No special hunt will take place in Grisons on Wednesday 11 November, as the recorded telephone announcement of the Office for Hunting and Fisheries states, valid from Monday 9 November, 4 pm, until Wednesday, 2 pm; the Italian text says the special hunt will take place «in nessuna regione». Since the possible start on 31 October, the special hunt has thus only been scheduled for the weekend of 7 and 8 November, and even then only for red deer in Mesolcina-Calanca, Rheinwald/Ferrera-Avers and Davos. According to press release of 26 October the canton is releasing 1,637 female red deer and their calves as well as 241 female roe deer and fawns for the special hunt; according to 2026 special hunt kill quota as of 26 October, 3,362 recreational hunters have registered. The announcements do not say why a hunting day is being cancelled. Fewer and fewer days remain until the special hunt ends on 20 December, and if the office sticks to its plan, more hinds and calves will have to be killed on each remaining hunting day. Yet in the very same communication the canton itself writes: «Given the wildlife populations that are already declining in many places, this task is becoming increasingly demanding.» How Grisons recreational hunters themselves question the red deer kill quota is shown in the article Grisons recreational hunters do the sums.

07.11.2026
Sat 11:48

UBI opens proceedings against RTR

The Independent Complaints Authority for Radio and Television (UBI) has taken up the complaint lodged by IG Wild beim Wild against RTR's hunting licence raffle and trophy photo competition (proceedings b.1146). The SRG must submit its response by 7 December and hand in the recordings of the programmes «La Preda» and «Salids da chatscha». Background to the complaint

06.11.2026
Fri 03:12

Special hunt starts in three regions, wildlife sanctuary near Davos opened

After the cancelled weekend of 31 October and 1 November and the likewise cancelled Wednesday, the Grisons special hunt takes place for the first time on the weekend of 7 and 8 November, as the recorded telephone announcement of the Office for Hunting and Fisheries states, valid from Thursday 5 November, 4 pm until Sunday, 2 pm. Only red deer are open to hunting, namely in Mesolcina-Calanca without altitude limits and only in sectors E10 to E17, in Rheinwald/Ferrera-Avers excluding sectors D03 and D06, and in Davos. There, the Galli wildlife sanctuary 521 is additionally opened to recreational hunting; the Ordinance on Wildlife Sanctuaries lists it as a general wildlife sanctuary in which “the pursuit of hunting is prohibited”. According to the 2026 special hunt kill quota as of 26 October, a total of 244 red deer are earmarked for killing in the three areas, 192 in Mesolcina-Calanca, 28 in Rheinwald/Ferrera-Avers and 24 in Davos, with 176, 54 and 116 recreational hunters registered there respectively. In Davos, that means almost five registered hunters for every red deer released, and for them, of all places, an area is being opened where cantonal law otherwise imposes a general hunting ban. The announcement does not say why precisely these areas are being hunted or why the Galli sanctuary is part of it. What the special hunt means for hinds and their calves is shown in the article Special hunt in Grisons: protected in September, cleared for killing in December.

05.11.2026
Thu 03:33

October monitoring: 19 wolves killed, new kill orders for Dreibündenstein and “Lavinuoz”

According to the “Wolf Management Monitoring” October 2026 published on 4 November by the Office for Hunting and Fisheries (as at 31 October), 19 wolves have so far been killed in the 2026/27 regulation period; in October, two more from the Frisal pack were added, on 12 and 15 October. For the Dreibündenstein pack, with at least six confirmed pups, the table documents three order stages: on 2 September for one young animal, on 15 October for two and on 29 October for four young animals. New is an order dated 28 October for one wolf under the designation “Lavinuoz”, the valley in which the office had previously attributed the kills to the Giarsinom pack; the order for one wolf in the Mittelprättigau was extended as of 30 October. For the now-revoked Giarsinom pack removal, the office gives three different dates: the communication of 5 October an order dated 1 October, the monitoring 2 October and the announcement of 29 October 5 October; it was revoked after genetic analyses showed that the kills in question were, with high probability, not attributable to a wolf of the Giarsinom pack. According to the monitoring, 14 sheep and goats as well as one head of large livestock under 14 days old were killed in October, after 48 sheep and goats in September. At the same time, the canton is raising the quota for the Dreibündenstein pack and listing a new individual kill order for Lavinuoz, while the office itself says it cannot yet conclusively assess whether the kill figures to date meet expectations: there is a lack of “esperienze e valori di riferimento”, Arno Puorger told Keystone-SDA, as “laRegione” reports. The current status of all cantons in the counter Wolf kills Switzerland 2026/27.

03.11.2026
Tue 19:28

Ibex hunt: the authority releases 644 animals without knowing what it is taking from the colonies

Until 8 November, recreational hunters in Grisons may kill 644 ibex and female ibex, 98 of them at Piz Albris, the founding colony of the Eastern Alps. The kill quota set by the Office for Hunting and Fisheries regulates colony, sex and age, yet nobody knows the genetic make-up, even though genome research shows the Alpine ibex to be genetically severely impoverished. A wildlife ecologist from the Hohe Tauern National Park says openly that nobody has any idea what is being taken, and calls for an end to ibex hunting. More in the article “Ibex: wildlife ecologist calls for an end to recreational hunting of ibex».

03.11.2026
Tue 03:40

No special hunt on Wednesday either, 1,637 red deer still outstanding

On Wednesday, 4 November, too, no special hunt will take place in Grisons. This is stated in the recorded telephone announcement of the Office for Hunting and Fisheries, which applies from Monday, 2 November, 4 p.m. until Wednesday, 2 p.m.; the Italian version specifies that the special hunt will take place «in nessuna regione». After the weekend of 31 October and 1 November, the next date is therefore also cancelled, and once again the announcement gives no reason. The 2026 special hunt kill quota as of 26 October remains unchanged: 1,637 red deer and 241 roe deer, with 3,362 recreational hunters registered. According to the press release of 26 October, the red deer concerned are female animals and their calves. Every further postponement pushes their killing deeper into the cold season, when hinds and calves are adjusting their energy balance to winter and every disturbance costs them reserves. The article Grisons recreational hunters do the maths: nine questions on the 2026 red deer kill quota.

01.11.2026
Sun 19:05

Bondo: Recreational hunter's shot pierces holiday home

In September, during the first part of the Grisons high hunt, a recreational hunter in Bondo in the Bergell valley fired at a red deer hind and missed. The projectile went through the wall of a holiday home, entered the living room and riddled a sofa and a jumper lying on it with holes. Nobody was in the house at the time. The recreational hunter's licence was withdrawn. The cantonal police are examining whether further criminal offences may apply in addition to the breach of hunting regulations; the public prosecutor has been informed but is not involved, as police spokesman Markus Walser confirmed to “Blick”.

The case only became public around two months later, and not through a police report but through a tip-off to the press. A shot with an inhabited village behind it has no safe backstop. It is not the first such case in the valley: in Vicosoprano, a recreational hunter fired next to youth footballers who were training at a red deer hind and likewise missed. After the horse shot dead in Avers, Bondo is already the second known licence withdrawal of this season because of a shot with serious consequences. How often Grisons recreational hunters miss their mark is also shown by the three dogs they mistook for foxes.

31.10.2026
Sat 03:28

One million francs a year for ibex advertising, 644 ibex and female ibex cleared for kill

The Grisons government is continuing the «Enavant 2027–2030» brand campaign with a cantonal contribution of one million francs a year, as the government announcement of 29 October states; CHF 600,000 go to the office of the Grisons location brand for the 'non-tourism' area, CHF 400,000 to Graubünden Ferien for the 'tourism' area. Since 2007 the faces of the campaign have been the two ibex Gian and Giachen; in future the brand is to develop from a tourism brand into a location brand as 'NaturMetropole'. At the same time, the ibex hunt continues until 8 November, according to the official dates of the Office for Hunting and Fishing with 20 days per recreational hunter. The 2026 ibex kill quota in Annex 8 of the Hunting Operations Regulations (as at 1 August 2026) clears 644 animals, 269 males and 375 females. The canton is thus using public money to advertise an animal as a figure of sympathy that, in the same autumn, it turns into prey for recreational hunting by means of a kill quota. How the ibex also comes into the crosshairs elsewhere is shown by the article Fribourg: recreational hunters want to hunt the ibex.

30.10.2026
Fri 03:25

Special hunt: no shooting anywhere on the first possible weekend

On 31 October and 1 November, no special hunt will take place in the Grisons, as the recorded telephone announcement of the Office for Hunting and Fisheries states for this weekend; the Italian version specifies that it takes place «in nessuna regione». The announcement gives no reason. Yet Saturday would be the earliest possible date: according to Art. 56 of the Ordinance on Hunting Operations the special hunts for red deer, roe deer and wild boar take place from 31 October to 20 December 2026 inclusive. The start, interruptions and end are set by the department by area, and recreational hunting only ends once the kill quota has been met, «if applicable» after a single day. This shifts the killing of red deer hinds and calves deeper into the cold season, when the animals switch their energy balance over to winter and every disturbance costs reserves. According to Art. 57, the next possible hunting day is Wednesday, 4 November. What the killing of mother animals means for calves and herds is shown in the article Special hunt in Grisons: protected in September, cleared for killing in December.

29.10.2026
Thu 16:40

DNA clears the Giarsinom pack: canton revokes the order to kill the entire pack

On 29 October, the Office for Hunting and Fisheries announced that the order to remove the entire Giarsinom pack has been revoked. The genetic analyses of the livestock kills show that the attacks are “very probably not attributable to a wolf of the Giarsinom pack”. Instead, the canton ordered the removal of a single wolf, valid for 60 days. The announcement does not say where this wolf is roaming or whether it has been genetically identified.

The killing of the entire pack had been approved by the FOEN on 23 September; the department ordered it on 1 October, valid until 31 January 2027 (communication of 5 October). Arno Puorger of the office justified it by citing two incidents in which sheep were killed despite proper herd protection (watson/SDA). Whether any wolves of the pack were killed in the four weeks since the order remains unanswered in the announcement; the October figures will only follow in the next “Wolf Management Monitoring”. Federal government and canton thus released an entire pack, including at least three pups, for killing on mere suspicion, without waiting to establish which wolf had actually caused the kills. The federal review, which is meant to prevent precisely such wrong decisions, has failed. What Switzerland has assured the Council of Europe regarding the removal of entire packs: FOEN and the Council of Europe: 15 wolf assurances put to the practical test

29.10.2026
Thu 06:04

“Delayed flight behaviour”: canton ordered wolf kill near Lantsch/Lenz, the justification appears only in the quarterly report

On 28 October the Office for Hunting and Fishing published the report dated 30 September, the “Quarterly Report on Large Predators” 3/2026. It states that in Lantsch/Lenz, Vaz/Obervaz and Albula/Alvra a wolf was repeatedly sighted near settlements “which showed delayed flight behaviour”, and that a kill permit was ordered for it in September “due to undesirable behaviour towards humans”. As a table row without any justification, the order of 22 September had already been listed since 5 October in the “Wolf Management Monitoring” for September; no kill is recorded up to 30 September; a notice or note, of the kind the office’s communication concept provides for “special events”, did not exist. The report also records one sighting with delayed flight behaviour each from Surses and Breil/Brigels, there without an order, and gives no criteria for the difference; attacks, injuries or livestock kills are not mentioned. The case is not new: according to the January 2026 monitoring the canton had already ordered the kill of an individual wolf for the same area on 28 May 2025, which expired unused on 28 July 2025, and in November 2025, according to the Quarterly Report 4/2025, two wolves with delayed flight behaviour were “deterred by the local wildlife wardens” there. Why the milder means, which according to the canton worked, should now no longer suffice, it does not say. Thus in Graubünden, behaviour that the canton neither describes nor assesses uniformly everywhere is enough for a kill order, and the public learns the justification weeks later from a quarterly report. How thin such justifications can be is shown by the report on an order in the canton of Schwyz: A critical look at the kill order for a wolf.

28.10.2026
Wed 03:55

Fox petition reaches Grisons: lawyer sees no valid grounds for the kills

The “Südostschweiz” profiles Lucerne lawyer Pascal Wolf on 27 October. He has submitted a petition against fox hunting in numerous cantons, and now in the Grisons as well. According to the newspaper, he is convinced that there are no valid grounds for the kills. The petition meets a canton that currently also permits fox hunting at night: from 20 to 31 October 2026 inclusive, foxes may be hunted in eight hunting districts «without time restrictions» under Art. 84 of the Hunting Operations Ordinance; the ordinance itself refers to this as «night hunting». The provision gives «prevention of wildlife damage in agriculture» as its purpose; it does not quantify any concrete damage caused by foxes. What a response can look like is shown by Glarus: according to glarus24.ch, the cantonal government rejected Pascal Wolf's demand for a scientific review. It pointed to the fox's status as a huntable species under federal law and to the absence of any indication that hunting was harming the population or violating the principle of sustainability. That still does not answer whether recreational hunting of foxes is necessary and appropriate. How Glarus sidestepped this question is shown in the article Glarus Rejects Fox Hunting Petition Without Examining the Evidence.

27.10.2026
Tue 03:40

Special hunt: 1,637 female red deer and calves approved for killing, while the authority reports declining populations in many areas

On 26 October, the Office for Hunting and Fisheries published its “Interim Result of the 2026 Hunt”: during the high hunt, 2,903 red deer, 2,339 roe deer and 3,053 chamois were killed, as well as 22 wild boars in the Mesolcina. For the special hunt in November and December, the canton has approved the killing of 1,637 female red deer and their calves, 241 female roe deer and fawns across 21 regions, and 12 chamois in four forest-wildlife problem areas, with no upper limit for wild boars; for red deer and roe deer, the quota is slightly below last year's. According to the 2026 special hunt kill quota, 3,362 recreational hunters have registered; according to the issuing schedule, the licence costs 100 francs plus a 20-franc administrative fee. The statement reads: “Given that wildlife populations are already declining in many places, this task is becoming increasingly demanding.” In the “Südostschweiz”, Lukas Walser, head of the Wildlife and Hunting Division, is more explicit: populations in various regions are smaller than they were a few years ago, “we deliberately worked towards that”, and the red deer “evades the hunting pressure”. The statement does not show how the decline in populations, regional forest damage and the remaining kill targets relate to one another, and it gives no damage data per region. How a Grisons recreational hunter recalculates the red deer kill quota is shown in the article Grisons recreational hunters do the sums.

26.10.2026
Mon 06:47

Special hunt possible from Saturday: up to four animals per day, with red deer hinds and calves in the crosshairs

From Saturday, 31 October, special hunts for red deer, roe deer and wild boar are planned in the Grisons, according to Art. 56 of the Ordinance on Hunting Operations lasting at most until 20 December 2026 and staggered by area. Hunting takes place on Wednesdays, Saturdays and Sundays until 2 p.m., and under Art. 60 each recreational hunter may kill up to four animals on the same day. For red deer, hinds, yearling hinds, calves and spikers whose antlers are no longer than their ears are open to hunting, and under Art. 66 the kill quotas are expressly set so that «the missing number of female animals is killed». During the high hunt, lactating hinds and red deer calves were still protected, and killing them carried a 150-franc fixed penalty fine each.

Participants can generally find out which regions will be shot in on the Monday and Thursday before a hunting day from 4 p.m.; under Art. 55 the canton publishes the decision and the kill quotas in the official gazette. On the special hunt page of the Office for Hunting and Fisheries still stated on 26 October, five days before the earliest possible start: «Further information on the special hunt 2026 will follow next autumn.» On the very same day, the office published the kill quotas, see the entry of 27 October. What the killing of mothers in the winter habitat means for calves and for the herds' knowledge is shown in the article Special hunt in Grisons: protected in September, cleared for killing in December.

21.10.2026
Wed 19:45

Shorter high hunt licences: association worried about monitoring, not about wounded animals

In the Regionaljournal Graubünden from SRF the recreational hunter Tanja Hemmi called for high hunt licences of six to nine days, so that parents and working people do not have to pay 825 francs for 21 hunting days. The Grisons Cantonal Licence Hunters' Association rejects the idea. President Benjamin Hefti pointed to the effort involved in monitoring and planning. As an example, he cited a missed shot on the last day of the licence: may the recreational hunter still take a rifle out for the follow-up search the next day?

In the association president's argument, the wounded animal therefore appears only as a question of entitlement. That fits the picture: for years, missed kills accounted for the majority of the more than a thousand annual fines and complaints against Grisons recreational hunters. Why the follow-up search has gaps across Switzerland is shown in the article Why Swiss hunting has an aftercare problem.

21.10.2026
Wed 05:20

Fox and badger: 2,159 kills in the Grisons, with no proven benefit

According to the Federal Hunting Statistics, recreational hunters in the Grisons shot 1,910 foxes and 249 badgers in 2025. A further 274 foxes and 141 badgers died in road traffic. From 20 to 31 October, Art. 84 of the Hunting Ordinance permits recreational hunting of both species "without time restrictions", including at dusk of the week after the clocks change, when commuter traffic falls into the dark hour. How risky shots in poor light are is shown by three dogs that recreational hunters in Grisons mistook for foxes. Municipalities such as Laax also pay 40 francs from the municipal coffers for every fox killed.

From a wildlife-biology perspective, this effort cannot be justified. Near Nancy, infestation with the fox tapeworm rose despite intensified hunting (Comte et al. 2017), and Luxembourg has refrained from hunting foxes since 2015 without any increase in either the population or tapeworm infestation. The evidence can be found in the Fox dossier, in the Badger dossier and on the studies page, what the public pays for this, in the Cost dossier.

13.10.2026
Tue 18:30

Thousands of hunting fines, two Grisons animal cruelty convictions

From 2012 to 2020, the Office for Hunting and Fishing recorded over a thousand fixed penalty fines and reports against Grisons recreational hunters every year, mostly for wrongly shot animals. Since 2021 it has no longer published the figure. Between 2018 and 2022, 17 people were convicted of animal cruelty during recreational hunting across Switzerland, two of them in Grisons, all with suspended fines. The details can be found in our analysis of two statistics.

13.10.2026
Tue 04:37

Opera in the Engadine: A recreational hunter with around 2,700 chamois killed as the stage hero

Under the patronage of the Grisons Cantonal Licence Hunters' Association, the Opera Engiadina will stage an adaptation of Weber's «Freischütz» from 16 October. At its centre is the Pontresina recreational hunter Gian Marchet Colani, with the hunters' chorus sung in Romansh by around twenty recreational hunters. According to the Historical Dictionary of Switzerland, Colani killed around 2,700 chamois and several bears. In the announcement, which celebrates him as the «King of the Bernina», these animals do not appear.

A rehearsal report states that the performances are scheduled outside the hunting season. According to the official dates, however, all four dates fall within the lowland game and ibex hunt, and the performance in St. Moritz on 1 November also falls within the window of the special hunt. Only the high hunt is over.

Yet Weber's «Freischütz» of 1821 is anything but a celebration of hunting. The young Max is under the pressure of a trial shot on which his marriage depends. Out of fear of failure, he strikes a bargain with the devil. In the end, the hermit advises the prince to abolish the custom of the trial shot. The material thus questions a tradition that drives people into misfortune. By contrast, just how deeply rooted the Grisons self-image is: Psychology of recreational hunting in the canton of Grisons

13.10.2026
Tue 03:44

Sumvitg: canton pays 90 per cent towards a fence around the protection forest, ETH measures the impact of wildlife

Above Surrein, in the municipality of Sumvitg, the Puzzastg protection forest has been enclosed, according to RTR of 12 October, with a 2.6-kilometre-long, two-metre-high fence that surrounds 25 hectares; the broadcaster describes the project as unique in Switzerland. Before the fence was closed at the end of June, the Office for Hunting and Fishing drove the game out, though small animals can still get in through openings. Of the costs of 1.5 million francs, the canton covers 90 per cent. Besides browsing damage, RTR cites the great age of the forest and erosion on the in places very steep slope as problems, and according to forestry engineer Nora Zürcher-Gasser, who planned the fence, none of the municipality's measures over recent decades had any effect. ETH Zurich is now inventorying plants inside and outside the fence in order to study how the forest develops when game is kept out. This is to be distinguished from the cantonal Red deer hunting plan 2026: it provides for 4,616 red deer kills and rests on population estimates and the targets of the 'Forest–Wildlife Habitat 2021' strategy, yet a kill figure alone does not show how regeneration is progressing in a protection forest such as Puzzastg. Background: 4,616 red deer: what the Grisons hunting plan reveals – and what it does not prove

10.10.2026
Sat 04:25

20 to 31 October: Fox, Badger and Marten in Eight Hunting Districts Without Shooting Times

According to the Ordinance on Hunting Operations (Art. 84 para. 1), foxes, badgers, pine and stone martens as well as raccoons, raccoon dogs and muskrats may be hunted «without time restrictions» from 20 to 31 October 2026 inclusive in hunting districts I, II, III, V, VI, X, XI and XII. The shooting times for small-game hunting under Art. 82, from 16 to 24 October, approximately 7.15 a.m. to 7 p.m., therefore do not apply there for these species. The exception is justified by the «prevention of wildlife damage in agriculture». For fox, badger and marten, according to the Q&A document of the Office for Hunting and Fishing «no special counts are carried out»; they are merely counted alongside the hare and red deer surveys, and in addition to fallen game, the numbers of animals killed by recreational hunters also serve as an indicator of population development. It remains unclear which concrete damage data the canton uses to justify the exemption from shooting times in these eight districts. On the campaign: Grisons: Stop the fox and badger massacre

08.10.2026
Thu 03:58

Farmers' association wants to tolerate at most two wolf packs, 19 are wholly or partly present in Grisons

The Grisons government is proposing a uniform regulation window from 1 June to 28 February as part of the revision of the hunting act. That is not enough for the Grisons Farmers' Association (BBV), as "BauernZeitung" reports, based on its consultation response. Problem wolves should be able to be regulated year-round, because «it should not be the calendar that decides whether intervention is permitted», says Sandro Michael of the BBV; in addition, the cantons should be able to make the final decision themselves, rather than waiting for a ruling from the Federal Office for the Environment as is currently the case. In its «Grisons Wolf Charter», the association goes even further: Grisons would accept «at most two inconspicuous wolf packs», attacks on domestic and farm animals as well as approaches to settlements, isolated farms and people would «not be tolerated», and where herd protection is indispensable, it should be paid for out of nature conservation funds. According to the Office for Hunting and Fishing, 19 wolf packs are currently wholly or partly present in Grisons, so the charter would tolerate only a fraction of that. And this in a season in which the number of farm animals killed by predators has, according to the "Engadiner Post", fallen by around a third compared to the previous year, to 128 by the end of September. An upper limit of two packs and financing herd protection from nature conservation funds amount to a drastic reduction in population and shift the costs onto nature conservation. How closely intertwined the farmers' lobby and wolf policy are: Farmers in parliament: high direct payments, a hard line against the wolf

07.10.2026
Wed 03:35

Despite complaint: game warden again draws the lot for the hunting licence at RTR

Alongside the photo competition, which a recreational hunter won through public voting, RTR also announced the winner of its patent raffle «La preda» on 2 October: the 2027 hunting licence goes to a recreational hunter from the Val Müstair, registered with a roe doe killed on 10 September. According to the broadcaster, as every year it was game warden Armando Janett who drew the lot in the radio studio, with the licence paid for by Graubündner Kantonalbank as sponsor. Only those who reported a kill to RTR on a day of recreational hunting could take part, meaning a chance of winning required a killed wild animal. In the same report, RTR names drought and the presence of the wolf as reasons for a more difficult season, while Lukas Walser of the Office for Hunting and Fishing names, in the "Engadiner Post", above all the warm temperatures, fine weather and lack of rainfall as defining factors for the high hunt. In the meantime, the criticism has also reached the regional press: under the headline "Causa IG Wild beim Wild cunter RTR" the «Engadiner Post/Posta Ladina» reported on 6 October on the complaint lodged with the SRG.R ombudsman's office and the criticism of the broadcaster's “non-neutral reporting”. The fact that a game warden appears once again as the lucky draw fairy of a kill-based competition just one week after the IG Wild beim Wild's complaint to the ombudsman's office blurs the line between oversight and advertising for recreational hunting. What the ethics assessment of the raffle fails to consider: RTR hunting licence: What the ethics assessment overlooks

06.10.2026
Tue 04:07

Record number of pups, a third fewer kills: yet the Giarsinom pack is to be eliminated entirely

According to the Office for Hunting and Fishing, 19 wolf packs live in Grisons, including cross-border ones, and in 18 of them there was demonstrable reproduction this year. «We have a new record for wolf offspring in Grisons,» says Arno Puorger, head of the predators division, "Engadiner Post": 88 pups are known, and by the end of September the canton counted 128 livestock killed, around a third fewer than the 189 recorded the previous year. The justification for the complete removal of the Giarsinom pack, which in the FOEN overview is missing, the office is now supplying via the newspaper: the pack had killed several farm animals in the Val Lavinuoz despite fencing. Which herds were affected and how the fences were constructed is not public. How little the kills change the presence of the pack is shown by the Moesola pack: when it was culled last winter, the canton killed six wolves according to its own tally, and on 27 August the FOEN again approved the killing of two thirds of the pups born in 2026 under the same name. Why the kills fail to deliver any benefit: Wolf regulation in Grisons: benefit of pup kills not proven

06.10.2026
Tue 04:06

Winning photo decided: RTR awards a recreational hunter with her nine-year-old female chamois

The online voting has been decided: According to the RTR competition page, updated on 5 October, the public voted a photo as the winner showing a recreational hunter with her nine-year-old female chamois, photographed by her grandmother. In third place is a recreational hunter with a twelve-year-old female chamois killed above Trun. The fee-funded broadcaster rewards the three best photographs with vouchers worth 500, 300 and 200 francs from a recreational hunting equipment supplier. The five finalist photos had been selected by a jury consisting of a nature photographer, an RTR editor and a recreational hunter. First and third place therefore feature two old female chamois – what is being honoured is not the living wild animal, but the moment after its death. IG Wild beim Wild has lodged a complaint about the competition with the ombudsman's office. What the ethical assessment of the competition fails to address: RTR hunting licence: What the ethics assessment overlooks

05.10.2026
Mon 16:00

17 wolves killed in one month, plus over 8,200 chamois, roe deer and red deer

In September, the Grisons wildlife wardens and authorised recreational hunters killed 17 wolves, seven of them by the roughly 3,150 recreational hunters licensed for wolf regulation. According to Arno Puorger of the Office for Hunting and Fishing, a total of 61 wolves have been approved for regulation, and the killings continue until the end of January (watson/SDA).

During the high hunt, according to the official final tally, 3,053 chamois, 2,339 roe deer and 2,903 red deer also died. Of the annual quota of 4,616 red deer, the canton is releasing a further 1,637 female red deer and their calves for the special hunt from 31 October. The office calls the outcome "positive". For IG Wild beim Wild, an authority that records the killing of over 8,200 wild animals in 30 days as a success is not practising wildlife management but a leisure pursuit with an official stamp. What the wolf kills actually achieve is shown by our dossier on the wolf in Switzerland.

Corrected on 27.10.2026: An earlier version gave the provisional high hunt figures (around 3,070 chamois, 2,400 roe deer, 2,900 red deer, and "around 8,400" animals in the headline) and "around 1,700" red deer still outstanding. The official figures of 26 October are authoritative: 3,053 chamois, 2,339 roe deer, 2,903 red deer, and a special hunt quota of 1,637 female red deer and their calves.

04.10.2026
Sun 07:32

Low hunt: the office does not justify it with regulation

The Office for Hunting and Fishing justifies the low hunt in its question-and-answer document not with regulation, but with use, research data and the licence fees that finance the monitoring. According to the office, there are no separate counts for fox, badger and marten, and the Hunting Operations Regulations set no upper limit for them. The comparison with Ticino and Valais: Low-ground hunt 2026: What Grisons, Ticino and Valais are releasing for the kill.

04.10.2026
Sun 07:31

Ibex hunting from Monday: the oldest buck goes to the oldest hunter

According to the schedule of the Office for Hunting and Fishing, the Grisons ibex hunt 2026 runs from 5 October to 8 November, staggered in some colonies. Which buck may be shot is regulated by the Ibex Ordinance according to the shooter's age: those under 30 receive one- to two-year-old bucks, while bucks of the middle and older age class from six years onwards are only available from age 55. The kill fee rises accordingly from 160 to 660 francs. The department justifies the allocation by age class with a «natural and balanced age structure». Yet the age structure of the animals is determined by the kill quota, not the age of the shooter. The old buck thus becomes a privilege at the end of a long recreational hunter's life, following the logic of trophies rather than population regulation. More on this: Is trophy hunting in Valais for a good cause?

04.10.2026
Sun 07:30

Low hunt: record hare count, eight hares per recreational hunter

The low hunt has been underway in Grisons since 1 October. According to the Hunting Operations Regulations, every recreational hunter may kill up to eight hares. From 16 October, one black grouse and up to ten ptarmigans are added, while cormorants are subject to no daily quota at all. Lead-free shot is only mandatory for waterfowl, and the ordinance itself assumes that lead is otherwise used: contaminated parts must be disposed of in such a way that birds of prey cannot reach them. In July, the government reported 1,306 brown hares, «the highest number ever reached», and praised the recreational hunters for their «game management». Instead of more protection, the record is followed by the kill, even though black grouse and alpine ptarmigan are listed on the Red List as potentially endangered. On the lead problem: Bearded vulture record: lead from recreational hunting remains dangerous.

03.10.2026
Sat 07:52

«Journalism should not protect people from reality»: RTR editor-in-chief defends licence raffle

In response to the complaint lodged by IG Wild beim Wild with the ombudsman's office, RTR reacted on 29 September with a commentary by editor-in-chief Flavio Bundi and invited the public to join the debate. Bundi writes: «Schurnalissem na duess betg proteger umans da la realitad» (Journalism should not protect people from reality), and further: «Tgi che mussa mo las varts positivas, defurmescha la realitad» — whoever shows only the positive sides distorts reality. This is precisely the yardstick by which the competition can be measured. When the president of JagdSchweiz admits to RTR that the circulation of trophy photos has today become "completely out of control", and RTR cites a study by a recreational hunter in the same report urgently advising that such images be published less frequently (96.1 to 98.5 percent of emotional reactions negative), a competition for the "most beautiful" trophy photo is not a depiction of reality but its staging. The call for debate was written by editor Dominik Hardegger, who himself sits on the jury of this very competition. Background: RTR: SRG broadcaster raffles hunting licence and crowns the “most beautiful” trophy photo.

Sources: RTR, "Memia blera chatscha tar RTR?" with commentary by Flavio Bundi, 29.09.2026; RTR Cultura, "Mund digital: Damain ego, dapli valurs da chatscha", 12.09.2026; RTR, Vote «Preda, atmosfera, cumpagnia» (Jury 2026).

02.10.2026
Fri 20:26

Wounded roe buck: follow-up search abandoned after ten hours without success

A resident of a farm in Grisons describes, in a public Facebook post, how a recreational hunter shot a roe buck and the injured wild animal fled on three legs across the family's pasture and farmyard. During the follow-up search, at least one further shot reportedly missed, and the search was called off after around ten hours. According to her account, more than 25 hours after the shot the roe buck had still not been found. When asked, the recreational hunter reportedly said the animal "doesn't feel it at all", while his companion said it was "just how it is, in God's name". The woman also reports insults and a threat concerning her dogs. The recreational hunter's companion reportedly called the police. There is no official confirmation. Our analysis shows why so many wounded wild animals are never found: The follow-up search as a reflection of the missed-shot rate.

02.10.2026
Fri 07:10

RTR final: a recreational hunter sits on the jury, two old chamois does are up for the vote

After the end of the high hunt, RTR published a gallery with 91 images from the second part of the high hunt on 1 October, and until Sunday, 4 October, 11.59 pm, the online vote on five final images is running. These were selected by a jury consisting of nature photographer Cundrau Spescha, RTR editor Dominik Hardegger, and recreational hunter Silvana Stecher. In the final are a recreational hunter with a twelve-year-old chamois doe killed near Trun, a recreational hunter with a nine-year-old chamois doe, a ten-point stag killed in the Val Müstair, and an image entitled «A chatscha cun bab» (On the recreational hunt with Father). This means the recreational hunting community at the licence-fee-funded broadcaster is not only in front of the camera, but also has a say in which images of killed wild animals are presented to the public as the “best”. The public only learns the age of the killed chamois from the caption. Background and complaint to the ombudsman's office: RTR: SRG broadcaster raffles hunting licence and crowns the “most beautiful” trophy photo.

Sources: RTR, «Preda, atmosfera, cumpagnia: Las fotografias da la segunda part da chatscha», 01.10.2026; RTR, «Preda, atmosfera, cumpagnia: Votai per la meglra fotografia da chatscha» (voting until 04.10.2026).

02.10.2026
Fri 07:08

Five weeks after confirmation: federal government releases the entire Giarsinom pack

On 19 August, the wildlife wardens confirmed a new pack with at least three pups in the municipal area of Zernez, the Giarsinom pack (report via Swiss National Park). On 27 August, the FOEN approved the killing of two thirds of these pups, and on 23 September, according to its overview of applications, the removal of the entire pack. Giarsinom is thus, after Calderas, the second Grisons pack that may be completely killed in this regulation period. The federal list contains no justification, and on the news page of the AJF no announcement regarding this decision was found as of 2 October. The pack has at least partially taken over the territory of the Fuorn pack in and around the National Park, which was wiped out in 2024/25 following various kills. If Giarsinom is also exterminated, this territory becomes free again, and the regulation creates its next pretext itself. Background: Grisons reports three new packs: it is not growth, it is replacement.

Sources: Swiss National Park, «Neue Wolfsrudel im Engadin», 19.08.2026 (report by the AJF); FOEN, «Fourth preventive regulation of wolf packs: status of cantonal applications», 24.09.2026; Corriere del Ticino, 25.09.2026.

02.10.2026
Fri 07:06

Government wants to shoot wolves for nine months, starting in June in the middle of pup-rearing season

In its government communication of 24 September the Grisons government takes a position on the revision of the hunting act, through which the federal government wants to newly permit wolf kills in federal game reserves as well as kills of individual pack wolves between February and May. The government considers this insufficient: wolf management is «still heavily regulated, too slow in acute problem situations and associated with a high administrative burden»; in game reserves, damage occurring outside the reserves should also count as grounds for action. It rejects kills between February and May because parent animals «can be of decisive importance for raising the young», and instead proposes a uniform regulation period from 1 June to 28 February. Today, cantons may, according to the FOEN preventively regulate packs from 1 September to 31 January, so the proposal would extend the shooting period from five to nine months. According to KORA the pups are born in April and May and are only brought from the den to rendezvous sites after around three months; a regulation start date of 1 June thus falls exactly within the period when they are most dependent on their parents. The argument about protecting the rearing of young therefore does not serve to protect the packs, but rather a longer shooting period. On the ongoing consultation: Hunting Act: Consultation on wolf kills during the whelping season and in hunting ban areas runs until 16 October.

Sources: Chancellery of the Canton of Grisons, government communication of 24.09.2026; FOEN, «Fourth preventive regulation of wolf packs», 24.09.2026; KORA, species profile wolf.

01.10.2026
Thu 17:42

Six dead animals as a ‘mental break’: the ‘Südostschweiz’ accompanies cross-country skier Valerio Grond on the high hunt

Three red deer, three chamois, a personal best: the ‘Südostschweiz’ accompanies cross-country skier Valerio Grond from Davos Monstein on the high hunt and portrays killing as a recreational programme between basic training and the World Cup. Grond speaks of humility, but the newspaper does not ask how this humility fits with a record tally. Readers are not told whether the animals killed were stags, hinds or calves, even though, according to the Office for Hunting and Fishing, red deer calves in September are still dependent on their mothers. The killed animals appear only as a number, as a 100-kilogram burden, and as a Christmas meal.Our assessment of the portrait

01.10.2026
Thu 16:45

Code co-author defends the RTR trophy photo competition

Sarah Cadotsch, a member of the BKPJV central board and co-signatory of the hunting code, which rejects “unnecessarily staged depictions of killed game”, sees “no reason”, according to «La Quotidiana», to change anything about the RTR competition offering a hunting licence as the prize for the “nicest” trophy photo. Recreational hunting, she says, is part of everyday reality. After Scuol and Klosters, this marks the third time the association has contradicted its own code — this time through its own author. More on this in the addendum to the article Hunting code Grisons: The contradiction within its own ranks.

30.09.2026
Wed 15:58

Recreational hunter poses with dead roe deer on Facebook

A recreational hunter from Grisons shows himself with a shot roe deer and a raised thumb, prompting over 500 comments. The game wardens' association calls such photos pointless, but criticises only the picture, not the kill.To the article

28.09.2026
Mon 03:31

Final stretch of the high hunt: roe deer fawns released for the kill in almost all Grisons hunting districts

Since 27 September, the hunting app has been showing Grisons recreational hunters the final stretch of the 2026 high hunt. Over the last four days, every recreational hunter is permitted to kill one roe deer fawn as part of the roe deer quota. This applies in hunting districts III (sectors B04, B05, C02, C03), IV, V/VI (sectors F13 to F18), VII, VIII.1, VIII.2, IX, X, XI and XII — that is, in the greater part of the canton. Killed roe deer does, yearling does and fawns must be presented fresh to the wildlife wardens. In the problem area of Stagias-Muota Pigniel in hunting district I, the chamois hunt also continues until 30 September. This is based on the Grisons Ordinance on Hunting Operations (Art. 37 para. 2 and Annexes 5 and 6).

The fawns were born in May and June. They are around four months old and normally stay with the doe until winter. In early summer, volunteers with drones scan the meadows to save exactly these animals from death by mowing machine. In September, they become part of the quota (Fawn rescue in Switzerland: who saves the fawns, and who shoots them?). Doe and fawn are released for the kill within the same time window. In the end, it is the order in which shots are fired that decides whether a fawn goes into winter without its mother. That this is no accidental side effect is stated in the ordinance itself: in the final four days, roe deer fawns are among the animals that, from the perspective of hunting planning, «should preferentially be killed». It is the kill quota that sets the pace — not the welfare of the wild animals.

26.09.2026
Sat 02:35

Three dogs, two horses, over a thousand violations a year: mistaken kills are not isolated cases in Grisons

RTR has documented five cases in which recreational hunters in Grisons shot domestic animals. The three dogs from Flims (2006), Klosters (2017) and Sedrun (2024) all died at night in connection with fox hunting; two of the shooters were 79 and 80 years old. From 2012 to 2020, the Office for Hunting and Fishing recorded over a thousand fines and reports every year, mostly mistaken kills; since 2021 it has stopped publishing the figure. Background in the article Flims, Klosters, Sedrun: Three dogs that recreational hunters in Grisons mistook for foxes.

25.09.2026
Fri 18:50

RTR raffles off hunting licence and picks trophy photo: IG Wild beim Wild goes to the ombudsman's office

The fee-funded broadcaster RTR runs a daily kill hotline during the high hunt, raffles off the 2027 hunting licence among the reported kills, and lets the public vote for the “most beautiful” trophy photo. IG Wild beim Wild is therefore filing a complaint with the SRG.R ombudsman's office, with a copy to the UBI, over the trivialisation of violence and the lack of youth protection. Background in the article RTR: SRG broadcaster raffles hunting licence and crowns the “most beautiful” trophy photo.