Court halts wolf cull: hobby hunters lose
Graubünden Administrative Court: culling permit for Calanda young wolves was disproportionate. WWF relieved.
Culling permit for wolves unlawful.
According to the Graubünden Administrative Court, the temporary culling permit issued last winter for two young wolves from the Calanda pack was not proportionate.
The judges partially upheld a complaint filed by WWF against the culling ordinance.
The cull had been approved without milder measures having first been carried out, the Administrative Court announced on Thursday. The authorities had not explained clearly enough why they had not fitted the wolves with radio collars and had not carried out deterrence operations. The permit had therefore violated the principle of proportionality.
The culling permit was issued last year shortly before Christmas from the circle around Georg Brosi of the Graubünden Office for Hunting and Fisheries, with the approval of the Federal Office for the Environment (Reinhard Schnidrig). The stated reason was problematic behaviour — meaning insufficiently shy behaviour — of Switzerland's first wolf pack.
No wolf shot
The culling of the young wolves was intended to have a deterrent effect on the wolves, something experts dismissed as nonsense. However, because the pack appeared too rarely near settlements due to the mild winter, the wildlife wardens were unable to shoot any wolf. At the end of March, the permit expired without the wildlife wardens having fired a single shot.
Even though the culling permit had no consequences, the Administrative Court subsequently issued a ruling. The judges took the view that further culling permits could be expected in the future, which would again be open to challenge. The ruling had now answered outstanding questions. Clarity had been established for the authorities and organisations involved in the wolf issue, it was stated.
WWF relieved
The court concluded that the environmental organisation WWF had prevailed on its main application. The court did not address the subsidiary applications of the complainant.
In a statement, WWF said it was “relieved” by the ruling. The Graubünden judges had clearly come out in favour of objective, proportionate wolf management expressed. The court ruling is also an opportunity for improved wolf monitoring. The judgment can be appealed to the Federal Supreme Court.
Related dossiers and articles:
- Dossier: Wolf in Switzerland
- Dossier: The Wolf in Europe
- Dossier: Hunting Laws and Control
- Dossier: The Wildlife Warden Model
- Dossier: Special Hunting in Graubünden
- Dossier: Herd Protection in Switzerland
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