Criticism of the Nidwalden trophy show in Ennetbürgen
How such events combine tradition, commerce and animal suffering.
Criticism of fur, pelt and trophy events in Switzerland, illustrated by the traditional Nidwalden trophy show in Ennetbürgen (NW) on 7 March 2026.
Wild animals are not a commodity for entertainment, prestige and commerce.
IG Wild beim Wild condemns in the strongest terms fur, pelt and trophy events in Switzerland Year after year, such events present killed wild animals as trophies, decorative objects and trade goods. This normalises a way of dealing with wild animals that is no longer in keeping with the times and clearly contradicts society's expectations regarding animal ethics and respect for fellow creatures.
The organisers sell these events as a preservation of tradition and as a contribution to so-called game management. In reality, killed wild animals are at the centre, their body parts measured, graded, awarded prizes or traded as goods. This practice promotes an outdated trophy culture in which the animal as a sentient individual does not count, but rather the hunting achievement and the size of antlers, horns or other «signs of success».
It is particularly objectionable that such events additionally serve as a marketplace for the trade in pelts. Fox pelts and other hides are bought, assessed, partly awarded prizes or raffled off. This trade ignores the suffering behind every single pelt and contributes to viewing wild animals as a raw material. While politics and society are taking steps towards restricting the fur trade, in Switzerland a commercialised form of hobby hunting continues to be celebrated that is ethically barely defensible.
Such markets are not folklore, but part of a system that puts a value on animal bodies. When pelts are traded at unit prices, animal suffering becomes a calculation. It is precisely this logic that is incompatible with a modern understanding of wildlife protection .
The IG Wild beim Wild also points out that the hunting practice portrayed often conveys an embellished picture. In reality, missed shots, injured animals and long ordeals of suffering are part of the everyday reality of hobby hunting. These aspects are neither addressed at such events nor openly communicated by those responsible. The claim that trophy shows serve to analyse the state of wildlife populations is hardly tenable. Scientifically based monitoring instruments do not require displayed skulls and antlers, which primarily serve self-promotion. Trophies are a material expression of killed wild animals, whose kill quality, follow-up search and suffering barely feature in the official picture.
From an animal welfare perspective, it is also concerning that children and young people are introduced to such events without being taught a respectful and contemporary way of dealing with wild animals. Instead of imparting knowledge, the focus is on a spectacle that trivialises violence and propagates a romanticised hunting world.
Arms dealers, optics manufacturers, hunting accessories, hunting trips, raffles of hunting kills abroad: an industrial hunting system of violence is emerging, in which kills and animal bodies are part of a marketing system.
Whoever kills senselessly protects nothing, and it is of no use to civilised society. Hobby hunters therefore do not ensure healthy or natural wildlife populations, especially not with their abhorrent fox hunting. Such events regularly raise questions about ethical aspects, permit practices and public impact, and it is high time they were fundamentally reviewed both politically and socially.
IG Wild beim Wild calls on those responsible in municipalities, towns and cantons to fundamentally rethink such events. A civilised society does not need contests in which dead wild animals are presented as successes, and it does not need a market on which pelts are traded like any other commodity. What is needed instead is a respectful understanding of wild animals, a sound scientific wildlife ecology and a turning away from hobby hunting.