Hobby hunting is a declaration of bankruptcy

Predators have never wiped out prey animals

The relationship between predators and their prey has naturally established and proven itself since time immemorial. Not a single case has been documented in which predators have driven prey animals to extinction. The cause of the endangerment or even disappearance of populations has never been our native predators such as foxes, martens, wolves, bears, lynx or birds of prey, but always the interventions of hobby hunters in the habitats of these species.

The hobby hunting industry has a long tradition of mistreating and damaging our cultural landscape. The hunting statistics speak a clear language. Hunting usually means not less wildlife, but more births. Hobby hunting fails as population control.

Hobby hunters leave behind and cause millions in damages to agriculture and forestry every year. The demand by many animal and nature conservation organisations for a general hunting ban for hobby hunters and the call for professional wildlife management reflect the spirit of the times.

Hobby hunters think one thing, say another and do the wrong thing

The standards in hunting law have been inadequate and conducive to animal cruelty for decades. Sterilisation, for example, is also an effective and sustainable solution in cases of actual overpopulation. In the United States, deer and elk populations in certain areas are managed by animal welfare advocates through a vaccine-based birth control method. In Europe, wild boar populations and even in Africa among the large wildlife in the wilderness, immunocontraception is being used.

Hunting has failed. For decades, hobby hunters have been attempting to regulate wildlife populations, a task they have to this day not succeeded in accomplishing in any civilised manner. Wildlife living under the yoke of hobby hunters has virtually no right to a natural death or recovery from illness.

Hobby hunters are responsible for the many wildlife accidents. Roe deer and red deer are normally diurnal animals. It is only through hunting pressure that wild animals are driven into the forests to hide, where they find less food and where browsing damage consequently occurs.

Abolition of hobby hunting without negative consequences

Abolishing hobby hunting would have no negative impact on the natural balance, biodiversity, disease outbreaks, or public finances. On the contrary, the unbelievable animal cruelty perpetrated by recreational hunters would be brought to an end. According to renowned scientists and based on case studies, species diversity and biodiversity would develop significantly better without hunting.

The additional burden caused by the countless tonnes of ammunition that hobby hunters leave behind in nature is pure eco-terrorism. Lead is a toxic heavy metal. It has a highly detrimental effect on the human circulatory system and can cause acute or chronic poisoning.

Nature and our habitat cannot simply be senselessly attacked, despoiled, and exploited. Flora and fauna should be returned to people and animals as a peaceful space for recreation and coexistence. The Geneva model has demonstrated since 1974 that this is possible.