Initiative to protect people and animals fails
A popular initiative to abolish the protection of the wolf has failed. The initiative, launched in May 2023, demanded that the wolf be allowed to be hunted year-round throughout Switzerland, except in the Swiss National Park.
The initiative committee argued that the number of wolves was rising sharply. Wolves are very important for the wilderness, they acknowledged. However, due to their intelligence, adaptability and “reproductive disposition,” they cause great damage in populated areas, in cultivated landscapes and in agriculture.
100’000 signatures not reached
Additional dangers for people, livestock and domestic animals were also cited. Furthermore, the wolf population was said to be calling into question recreational opportunities in nature. For the initiative to succeed, 100’000 valid signatures would have had to be submitted by 2 November, as stated in Monday’s edition of the Federal Gazette. The myths surrounding the wolf continue to shape the political debate.
What the initiative demanded
The initiative “For the protection of people, domestic animals and livestock from the wolf” sought to add a new paragraph to Article 79 of the Federal Constitution. This article governs federal competencies for hunting and fishing. The new paragraph 79a was intended to establish that the wolf is protected only in the Swiss National Park in the Engadin and may be hunted year-round everywhere else.
The initiative was launched by a committee of seven private individuals. According to information on their website, they are owners of cows, horses, goats and sheep. According to the website, they were supported by, among others, the Zug Farmers’ Association and EDU Schweiz. The failure of the initiative shows that a majority of the population does not want to abandon wolf protection.
Get involved: Submit a tax remission request to your municipality for federal and cantonal taxes, citing the catastrophic policies of Federal Councillor Albert Rösti (SVP) regarding the recently approved wolf culling in Switzerland. You can download the template letter here: https://wildbeimwild.com/ein-appell-fuer-eine-veraenderung-in-der-schweiz/
More on the subject of recreational hunting: In the dossier The Role and Criticism of Recreational Hunters we shed light on the training, power and self-image of recreational hunters. What the research says about this is shown by Hunting fact-checked: the state of research.
The position of IG Wild beim Wild: IG Wild beim Wild rejects recreational hunting. Our model is the canton of Geneva, which has managed without recreational hunting since 1974: without hunting seasons, without hunting dogs, without driven hunts, without high seats, without the animal cruelty and crime that go hand in hand with hunting season elsewhere. What has worked there for over fifty years disproves every position paper by JagdSchweiz. An association that bases its policy on claims it refutes in its own documents is not a professional organisation, but a factory for misinformation.
