On the Way to Peace with the Wolf?
Regarding our conflict-ridden relationship with the wolf, Yves Bongard is reluctant to make predictions about the future, even as he hopes that the Swiss will be able to make peace with the wolf in the same way they ultimately came to accept the lynx.
To achieve this, we must above all “get to know the wilderness, make peace with it,” he demands.
50 Years of Lynx in the Creux-du-Van
The canton of Neuchâtel is celebrating the 50th anniversary of the reintroduction of the lynx in the Creux-du-Van. Since the reintroduction in 1974, the population has grown to around 200 lynx in Switzerland, approximately 70 of which are in the Jura.
Yves Bongard, secretary of the association Avenir Loup Lynx Jura, emphasises that people have learned to admire the lynx rather than fear it. There has been a shift from fear to admiration, and the lynx is now regarded as a fascinating animal, he tells RTS. Coexistence with wildlife requires patience and a willingness to learn.
Coexistence is the guiding principle. Yves Bongard, secretary of the Neuchâtel section of the association Avenir Loup Lynx Jura
Learning from the Lynx for the Wolf
He also recalls that the lynx kills a certain number of livestock each year — around 100 animals per year in Switzerland — raids for which compensation is paid to farmers. A balance must therefore also be found in the case of the wolf, he suggests. Population control through culling, however, remains a matter of debate.
“I am firmly convinced that we must learn to coexist with the wolf.”
Bongard expresses the hope that people will one day be able to make peace with the wolf as well, much as they have done with the lynx.
Further Articles
- Swiss Meadows Losing Biodiversity at an Alarming Rate
- When Sheep, Cattle and Others Encroach on Wildlife Habitat
- Swiss Animal Protection Criticizes Planned Wolf Culls as a Threat to Pack Structures and Herd Protection
- In Grauбünden, Wolf Mismanagement Runs Rampant
- Val Fex: When the herd protection concept is more full of holes than the fence
- Shooting instead of protection – Switzerland on the path to silent wolf extermination
- Communication failure at the Office for Hunting and Fishing of Graubünden
- Illegal wolf hunting in Switzerland
- Wolf cubs in Switzerland under fire
- Switzerland sells massacre of wolves as a success
- Sloppy work in the office of Katrin Schneeberger
- Livestock grazing alters soil, plant, and insect populations
- The senseless hunt for wolves in Switzerland
- The truth about sheep mortality in Switzerland: causes and statistics
- Wolf shootings in Switzerland: concerns about party politician Albert Rösti
- Let us stop the SVP's destructive rage
- Participatory campaign: An appeal for change in Switzerland
- 200 environmental organizations from 6 continents call on the Swiss government: Stop the wolf cull
- Federal Council strongly criticized by wolf experts
- The consequences of controversial wolf management in Switzerland
- Wolf: Federal Councillor Rösti (SVP) bypasses law and order
- Es Burebüebli mahn i nit
- Are FOEN and the hunting authorities still working responsibly?
- Federal Councillor Albert Rösti tramples the will of the people
- The consequences of controversial wolf management in Switzerland
- Too many sheep harm biodiversity
- Agricultural use destroys alpine meadows
- Kills despite herd protection – how is that possible?
- The rotten apple in the St. Gallen hunting administration
- Pro Natura calls for a comprehensive strategy for summer sheep grazing
- According to Agridea study, herd protection with dogs works well
- Thanks to herd protection, wolves in Switzerland kill fewer livestock
- Farmers treat fields as dumping grounds
- Biomass of wildlife
- On sheep farmers and ambiguous authorities
- The double standards of wolf opponents
