Hobby hunter falls to his death

On Saturday morning, a tragic mountain accident occurred in the Flüe area of the Prätschwald near Arosa. A young man fell to his death. He wanted to kill and died in the process.

A 22-year-old hobby hunter and his father left the hunting hut shortly before 5:30 a.m. on Saturday morning to each take up their respective positions in the elevated hides. When the young man could not be reached by phone and had not returned, the operations center of the Graubünden cantonal police was alerted at noon.

Search operation in rocky terrain

The father independently made his way into the rocky Flüe area of the Prätschwald to look for his son. An alerted SAC member who happened to be walking in the area with his dog made his way towards the suspected accident site, where he encountered the father. The dog was able to pick up the missing man's scent and led the rescuer to where he was found.

The deployed team from the SAC rescue station in Arosa reached the injured man at 2:30 p.m. He was found at the base of the cliff against a larch tree. Sadly, nothing could be done but confirm his death.

Recreational hunting in Switzerland: A war report

• On a multi-year average, four people are killed in hunting accidents per year in Switzerland.
• Since the start of the BFU statistics (in 2000), there have been a total of 57 fatalities in Switzerland (as of 2016). That is one death due to recreational hunting every 3.5 months.
• In 80% of cases, the cause of death was a fall from height — that is, a fall in the field (while carrying a hunting weapon).
• In the years 2011–2015, a total of 1’526 injuries from hunting accidents were recorded by accident insurers. The majority of accidents (>90%) occurred in Switzerland and involved men. Every 29 hours, an accident occurs in Switzerland due to recreational hunting.

And once again, a hobby-hunter father has brought misfortune upon his son by getting him excited about recreational hunting. If the police or the military regularly recorded this many casualties, hardly anyone would speak of responsible conduct in the practice of hunting.

Hunting has not taken place in the Engadin National Park for around 100 years, and the chamois population remains constant at approximately 1,350 animals. Isn't that wonderful?

IG Wild beim Wild extends its condolences to the bereaved. More on crime and hobby hunting and on the animal welfare problem.