St. Gallen: Stop the fox and badger massacre!

To justify the relentless persecution of one of our most interesting predators in the canton of St. Gallen, it is simply claimed that hunting foxes or badgers is necessary because their populations would otherwise get out of control – a long outdated view!

Generally, fox populations that are hunted less produce fewer offspring. Humans inevitably create conflicts with wild animals that share the same habitat. Humans cause far more damage, especially in the habitats of wild animals, than the few grapes a badger might enjoy.

In Switzerland, the cantons of Bern , Aargau, Graubünden , St.Gallen, Valais, Lucerne and Zurich are particularly conspicuous for their disproportionate hunting of foxes and badgers.

In the canton of Bern, around one fifth of all red foxes in Switzerland are shot, although experts see no point in doing so.

"From a wildlife biology perspective, fox hunting is not sensible; it is not a way to regulate the population."

Peter Juesy, former hunting inspector of the canton of Bern.

According to the Swiss Rabies Centre, it is known that the activities of hobby hunters have only spread the disease further, and the same is true for fox mange, etc.

Given the stress and pathological hunting pressure from hobby hunters in the sometimes densely populated habitat, it's no wonder that wild animals become ill.

Hobby hunters in St. Gallen also do not hunt ethically. Swiss hobby hunters and hunting associations like to boast about hunting "ethically." Ethically hunting means not only complying with the law, but also always following the unwritten rules of hunting. In its 2014 Hunting Code on Ethical Hunting, the Swiss Hunting Association explains its philosophy for responsible and sustainable hunting among Swiss hobby hunters. For example, it states:

• I avoid unnecessarily disturbing the wildlife.
• I avoid causing unnecessary suffering to animals.
• Where wildlife habitats are impaired, I advocate for the wild animals.
• I care about the environment and am committed to ensuring that habitats are protected and enhanced.
• etc.

However, a court in Bellinzona recently confirmed that these are, as usual from the association, only empty words.

Success: Swiss Hunting Association loses

With the start of the mating season in early December, there is a high probability that pregnant vixens and, regularly, male foxes will already be found on the hunting grounds. These males will then be unavailable as the primary providers for the young fox families. Especially during night hunts, there is a significant risk of mistaking a vixen for a cub and ultimately killing a parent animal that is essential for raising the young. This becomes a criminal offense at the latest when the foxes begin their fawning season. Anyone still hunting foxes at this time is not hunting ethically. Even hunting literature acknowledges that the male fox is necessary for raising the young. However, hunting legislation fails to address the fact that, precisely between the mating and fawning seasons (the time when the cubs are born), parent foxes are hunted and killed particularly intensively, which constitutes animal cruelty.

This hunting ethic doesn't seem to apply to foxes. Here, hobby hunters, hunting associations, and legislators even condone the killing of parent animals necessary for raising young!

We therefore urge the relevant authorities to ensure the protection of parent animals during the mating season and the period of raising young immediately through appropriate laws or closed seasons.

IG Wild beim Wild

Cantons such as Geneva, Neuchâtel, Vaud, Fribourg, Zug or Obwalden are already doing this to some extent in order to put a stop to this animal cruelty.

Vaccine baits instead of symptom treatment

In light of the outbreak of mange in foxes, amateur hunters are promoting intensive fox hunting as a panacea for combating the infection. However, similar to rabies and fox tapeworm, there is no evidence to suggest that even more relentless fox hunting should curb the spread of mange – after all, past experience has shown that reducing fox population density through hunting is not possible. Furthermore, hunting promotes migration within fox populations, which, as has been demonstrated for rabies, is likely to increase rather than decrease the rate of disease spread. Since mange occurs in localized areas and is significantly less likely to take hold in some regions than others, epidemiologists also suspect that fox populations largely immune to mange may develop in some areas.

In Great Britain, for example, the National Fox Welfare Society (NFWS) reportedly uses a homeopathic remedy with great success. This remedy is administered to sick foxes in populated areas via a specially prepared bait – in this case, honey sandwiches. According to the NFWS, the treatment is effective in 99 percent of all cases.

Bravecto (active ingredient: fluralaner), a tablet-based medication that provides relief for twelve weeks after a single dose, is effective against mange mites. It is successfully used to treat mange in wild foxes. Like selamectin, Bravecto is also well-tolerated by lactating vixens and fox cubs.

It is also a fact that mange has been flaring up locally at irregular intervals for decades. It has been shown that foxes that are weakened are particularly susceptible to infection. Besides parasites, diseases, or food shortages, high hunting pressure can also impair the animals' health. For example, various studies show that when a male fox, who provides food for his family, dies, the physical condition of both the vixen and her cubs can be significantly affected. This also suggests that fox hunting has a counterproductive effect.

There is now considerable evidence that fox populations, particularly after an outbreak, develop that are largely resistant to mange. Only a small proportion of these animals actually show symptoms. However, recreational hunters cannot discern a fox's mange resistance by looking at it and therefore indiscriminately kill resistant animals as well as those susceptible to the parasite. Consequently, the survival advantage resulting from resistance is eliminated, which again likely undermines the goal of reducing mange cases.

There are no legally mandated hunting quotas or population control measures for foxes. Hunting foxes is akin to a short-circuited approach to ecology by inadequately trained recreational hunters.

It is precisely this mentality of senseless exploitation driven by greed or a misguided understanding of nature that has led to Switzerland having the longest red list of endangered species in all of Europe. Senseless killing takes place at the national, regional, and local levels. It is obvious that biodiversity, habitats, and ecosystems in Switzerland are not adequately protected by recreational hunters. Paradoxically, it is precisely these circles of recreational hunters and livestock farmers, with their lobbying efforts, who have been held responsible for this situation for decades through politics, media, and legislation. They are the ones who notoriously block modern, ethical improvements in animal welfare and sabotage serious animal and species conservation.

Hobby hunters in St. Gallen are known beyond the cantonal border as drivers of a primitive culture of violence, which hunting undoubtedly is, and as troublemakers in the animal kingdom.

The IG Wild beim Wild (Interest Group for Wildlife) believes that granting the cantons more powers under the hunting law, as proposed in the vote on May 17, 2020, is counterproductive – quite the opposite. They are unable to handle the responsibility, are overwhelmed, are insufficiently trained as both hobby hunters and decision-makers, and they lie. Moreover, they already have enough leeway. Recent examples include the head of the hunting and fishing office in the canton of Zurich, who recently introduced night hunting of foxes, claiming that foxes transmit rabies. As we now know, only humane rabies vaccine baits were able to eradicate terrestrial rabies – it has been considered eradicated in Switzerland since 1998 and in large parts of Europe!

Violence begins in St. Gallen, where knowledge ends.

Time and again, claims are made within the hobby hunting community that, upon closer examination, originate from hunting literature and similar unscientific sources. This is primarily due to the often inadequate training in hunting exam preparation courses, which are predominantly conducted by sometimes fanatical individuals with cult-like ideologies and who do not require any formal qualifications. After completing their training, hobby hunters are relegated to the echo chamber of the hunting press, which constantly repeats its distorted and often inaccurate portrayals.

Within hunting clubs, members reinforce each other's views. This has led to the formation of a closed and militant group (8) that is largely inaccessible to scientific information. The fatal flaw is that the local press and politicians still believe that hunters possess expert knowledge and readily consult the local hobby hunter on all nature-related issues. In this way, hobby hunters also contaminate the public sphere.

We commend the Canton of Geneva for its professional wildlife management system, free from recreational hunters and staffed by reputable game wardens. Like the rest of Switzerland, the shores of Lake Geneva are home to vineyards and other cultivated land. However, they clearly employ a more humane and ethical approach to wildlife management and implement intelligent measures to protect these crops. In Geneva, foxes, martens, and badgers are not culled simply because it's hunting season. This is also reflected in the federal hunting statistics (2). Instead, practical deterrent measures (12), along with meaningful public education, support, and training programs, are conducted in collaboration with the game wardens. Safety, animal welfare, and ethics are their guiding principles.

Therefore, every fox or badger hunt in St. Gallen is a clear violation of the animal welfare law because it lacks a justifiable reason. Fox and badger hunting in the canton of St. Gallen is thus primarily organized animal cruelty.

Wild animals also have feelings and emotions. They can suffer, grieve, and experience joy. Like us humans, they live in family groups and social structures, which hobby hunters often terrorize and desecrate for sport.

Foxes are hunted for at least eight months in the canton of St. Gallen – badgers for over six months, according to federal hunting statistics. Given this stress, it's no wonder these animals become ill. The epicenter of fox tapeworm cases in all of Europe is in Switzerland, precisely in the region where hunting-obsessed hobby hunters have entrenched themselves within the cantonal authorities. These senseless disturbances and noise pollution invariably disrupt the entire wildlife population and affect residents alike.

Badger – as the badger is called in fables – is not often seen: The largest member of the weasel family is shy and only active at night. Badgers spend most of the day in their setts, which are usually located on the edge of settlements and are often used by generations. Badgers are harmless to humans and pose no danger to agriculture, forestry, or wild and domestic animals. Badgers do not attack cats and are primarily active at night. If they have to defend themselves against dogs, the dog usually loses. Badgers spend most of the winter, or during periods of low temperatures, hibernating.

Science versus tall tales

For more than 30 years, at least 18 wildlife biology studies have proven that fox hunting does not regulate populations and is also ineffective in disease control. On the contrary!

Scientific studies (5) have shown that even if three-quarters of a fox population is culled, the same number of foxes will be present again the following year. The more they are hunted, the more offspring they produce – any kind of “regulation” of these populations is neither necessary nor even possible using hunting methods.

Fox populations are regulated by a complex social system. Foxes live in family groups in which only the highest-ranking female reproduces (similar to the lead sow in wild boar). Biologist Erik Zimen commented on this phenomenon as "birth control instead of mass misery." However, when humans intervene in the fox population with traps and guns, these family units (3) are destroyed. As a result, almost all females are ready to mate, and the number of pups per litter increases sharply.

"Even without hunting, there wouldn't suddenly be too many foxes, hares, or birds. Experience shows that nature can be left to its own devices. From a purely pragmatic point of view, hunting small game is unnecessary."

Heinrich Haller, former director of the Graubünden National Park and wildlife biologist

Studies in various countries and at different times have also demonstrated the influence of the red fox not only on the roe deer population: In the Bernese Midlands, it is estimated that a fox can prey on an average of eleven fawns between May and July. This also reduces browsing damage (1).

Numerous case studies, such as those in national parks, Luxembourg (10), or the canton of Geneva, have demonstrated that there are no valid arguments for these massacres. Any habitat that is vacated is immediately reoccupied by these animals. It is well-established scientifically that fox populations develop largely independently of hunting attempts, because, on the contrary, hunting actually causes reproduction rates to skyrocket.

In Switzerland, however, recreational hunters shoot around 20,000 healthy foxes every year for disposal or incineration (2). This is precisely the number that allows this risk group of recreational hunters to later spread their sectarian hunting rhetoric as indispensable regulators. This senseless mountain of carcasses at the taxpayers' expense must be stopped . Recreational hunting causes more problems than it supposedly solves. This absurd behavior does nothing for the forests either.

These hunts often result in fatal mix-ups, and hobby hunters shoot protected species such as golden jackals or wolves (8).

Can the informed and responsible taxpayer still reconcile it with their conscience to support such officials in the canton who don't care a whit about ethics, science or animal welfare and who lie to and endanger the population?

Stop the animal cruelty and waste of taxpayers' money in the canton.

The feeding of wild animals in their shared habitat is not a harm, but a natural process for their survival. Tolerance and fairness are essential here. We humans are damaging and destroying the habitat of wild animals on all levels many times more. Wild animals have just as much right to exist as humans. These disrespectful killings and bounty rewards are completely disproportionate to a healthy and compassionate sense of justice. Protection against hail and bird damage can also be achieved, for example, with nets or deterrents (12).

Fox hunting is ecologically, economically, and epidemiologically pointless—indeed, it is counterproductive!—and must therefore be banned in the interest of humanity, nature, and wildlife, as well as from the perspective of ethics, morality, and animal welfare. Blind activism and violence help no one.

With this direct submission of the petition to decision-makers, we demand that the killing of these wonderful creatures be prohibited as quickly as possible and that this be published in the official gazette.

Please send your petition and/or comment to the following addresses independently via email:

• Office for Nature, Hunting and Fishing: info.anjf@sg.ch
• Government Councillor Bruno Damann: info.vdgs@sg.ch
• Green Party St.Gallen: info@gruene-sg.ch
• SP St.Gallen: info@sp-sg.ch
• Green Liberals St.Gallen: sg@grunliberale.ch
• Animal Welfare St.Gallen: info@tierlidienst.ch

Express your opinion to decision-makers in St. Gallen by telephone:

• Office for Nature, Hunting and Fishing +41 58 229 39 53
• Government Councillor Bruno Damann +41 58 229 34 87
• Green Party St. Gallen +41 076 456 25 15
• SP St.Gallen + 41 071 222 45 85
• Green Liberals St. Gallen +41 071 250 18 81
• Animal Welfare St.Gallen +41 071 244 42 38

In addition, we demand the following for foxes and badgers:

• The recognition of scientific studies and expert opinions (not from the hobby hunter milieu) that question or refute the necessity of hunting.
• No dissemination of sectarian or refuted hunters' lies , such as the alleged necessity of regulating fox populations, as well as the fear-mongering about rabies, fox tapeworm and mange, or the fox being to blame for the decline of small game, etc.
• Killing animals as a leisure activity has no place in the 21st century and should be punishable by law.

Reason:

In the canton of St. Gallen, during the 2018/19 hunting season, mostly healthy foxes and 304 badgers were killed by militant hobby hunters without any scientific basis or wildlife biology expertise. The number of red foxes killed by hunters is listed as 729 in the federal hunting statistics .

The alleged threat to meadow birds, i.e., ground-nesting birds, can be relegated to the realm of hunters' tales, as research has shown that the impact on bird populations is negligible (3). This is all the more understandable when one considers the main food source for foxes: mice and earthworms. Foxes are extremely beneficial to agriculture. However, the fact that foxes are also extremely beneficial to forestry and protect humans from diseases by diligently preying on mice (which are considered the main vectors for diseases such as Lyme disease) is known to very few people.

Industrial agriculture is the main factor in the decline of endangered species, as it destroys their habitat. New fields, monocultures, fertilizers, and pesticides are increasingly destroying vital natural structures – and over-fertilization is also dwindling their food supply. However, the killing of animals by recreational hunters puts additional pressure on weakened populations and can push them to the brink of extinction. Absurdly, hunters try to blame the decline in brown hare populations on predators like foxes. Foxes, however, feed primarily on mice and earthworms and pose no threat to hare populations or ground-nesting birds. On the one hand, it is a waste of time for a fox to search unsuccessfully for rare and therefore difficult-to-find prey; on the other hand, a healthy hare is not prey for even the fastest fox – with their powerful hind legs, these long-eared creatures can catapult themselves from a standstill to speeds of over 70 km/h. Studies show that by far the largest proportion of hares eaten by foxes are consumed as carrion.

The specious arguments claiming that relentless hunting combats rabies, fox tapeworm, or mange have been scientifically refuted. Mange is far less common than assumed, and foxes in good health can recover from it. These fox populations are then resistant to reinfection. Furthermore, mange in foxes poses no danger to humans or domestic animals. It is very easily treatable. There are far more injuries or deaths caused by militant hobby hunters themselves!

Fox tapeworm

Fewer foxes mean fewer fox tapeworms, and therefore a lower risk of infection for humans. At first glance, this seems like a plausible conclusion, but upon closer analysis, it turns out to be nothing more than hunters' tall tales, as several international studies (6) demonstrate.

Across Europe, the epicenter of fox tapeworm reports lies in Switzerland, precisely in the region where hunting-enthusiastic hobby hunters have entrenched themselves within the cantonal authorities. These senseless disturbances and noise emissions from the hobby hunters' activities invariably disrupt the entire wildlife population and affect the local residents .

There are far more zoonotic diseases in pets and farm animals. Typically, only recreational hunters contract zoonotic diseases like the fox tapeworm. Around 20-30 people in Switzerland are infected with this liver disease (Echinococcus multilocularis) each year. This is no more than in the past, when fewer foxes were found in cities. Most people's immune systems are strong enough to ward off the infection. The larvae of the fox tapeworm usually develop in the livers of mice and some rats. If a fox eats an infected mouse, a new tapeworm develops in its intestines. Cats and dogs that eat mice can also spread the parasite in this way, but they themselves do not become ill. It is somewhat reassuring that the incidence of the disease in Switzerland is very low, that direct transmission from foxes to dogs is not possible, and that neutered animals cannot contract the fox tapeworm.

Urban foxes typically have an infestation rate of less than 20%, as their diet consists mainly of food scraps. Rural foxes, on the other hand, have a higher infestation rate because they feed extensively on field mice.

The risk of infection for ordinary forest visitors is minimal. Contrary to popular belief, no fox tapeworm patient is known to have contracted the disease from wild berries. Berries hanging high on the bushes are not a possible route of infection. It is difficult to imagine how fox feces could reach berries hanging high on the bushes.

"We have observed that fox mothers give birth to more cubs in areas where the animals are hunted. While culling can provide temporary relief in certain areas, the vacant territories are quickly reoccupied. Nature regulates this itself."

  Game warden Fabian Kern

Shooting foxes can even have the effect that the vacated habitat is reoccupied by foxes with a much higher proportion of carriers of the fox tapeworm.

Fox mange

Not every scruffy-looking fox has mange, and dogs are not at high risk of infection. The parasitic mange mite can certainly infest dogs or humans – but this infestation is very treatable in both cases. The seemingly increased local occurrence of these mites is not a result of an excessively high fox population density. Therefore, increased hunting will not prevent the spread of mange. Scientific evidence shows that hunting foxes is counterproductive to controlling wildlife diseases. In general, it has also been shown that in intensively hunted areas, the fox population does not decrease, but rather increases due to higher reproduction rates and immigration.

The main reason for the spread of fox mange is intensive hunting. Hunting leads to an artificially rejuvenated and increasing population with weakened immune systems, resulting in a rise in migrating young foxes in autumn that spread the pathogens they carry.

In the 2018/19 hunting season, 1,681 foxes were listed as killed in the St. Gallen hunting statistics. The IG Wild (Wildlife Interest Group) asked Dominik Thiel how many of these foxes, and what percentage of the 729 found dead, were infected with a disease such as mange, distemper, etc.

"We do not have complete, uniform, and therefore analyzable detailed statistics that provide a precise answer to your question."

Dominik Thiel, Office for Hunting and Fishing

In contrast, for example, the canton of Lucerne:

• Roadkill with mange: 14
• Canine dead animals with distemper: 1
• Dead animals, other diseases: 5
• Mange kill: 32
• Distemper shooting: 1
• Discharge of other disease: 6
• Total number of cases: 39

In the past, mange and distemper have repeatedly flared up locally and then died out on their own. Particularly in areas where mange has been especially prevalent, foxes appear to be developing increasing resistance to reinfection. However, since hunting negates the inherent survival advantage of mange-resistant foxes (a recreational hunter can't tell a fox's resistance just by looking at it), killing foxes is likely counterproductive in this respect as well. Incidentally, it has been observed that wild animals have already developed antibodies against distemper, making the risk minimal.

Foxes protect us

A new study (7) suggests that the extinction of mouse-hunting predators, especially the fox, is the cause of the increasing number of tick-borne diseases in humans.

Foxes also have a positive influence in protecting humans and animals from hantavirus, botulism or leptospirosis (11).

"If so many foxes weren't killed, farmers wouldn't have to spread so much poison on their fields to combat mouse plagues – which in turn puts a strain on the entire ecosystem."

IG Wild beim Wild

Foresters have to use chemicals, mechanical methods, and traps to combat mice that damage seedlings and trees, while hobby hunters hunt foxes, which would actually keep the mice in check. Millions of francs in damages and additional costs for forestry due to hunting are the result. Farmers and orchardists have to hire mouse hunters because foxes and other predators are absent.

Barbaric folklore or normal hunting method.

Fox hunting involves practices that are actually prohibited by animal welfare laws. Particularly cruel are the hunting of foxes in their dens and the training of hunting dogs on live foxes.

At least among the Swiss population, hunting in burrows enjoys little acceptance; this is shown by a representative survey of 1,015 people conducted in September 2017 by the market research company Demoscope on behalf of the Swiss Animal Protection Association (STS). 64 percent support a ban, while only 21 percent want to continue hunting in burrows. Opposition is somewhat stronger among women and those aged 15 to 34. There is no significant cultural divide between French- and German-speaking Switzerland.

The fox is a very vivid (and sad) example of how the hobby hunter, with his ignorance and obsessive need for control, creates problems for nature and exacerbates natural regulatory mechanisms. If one approaches foxes without prejudice, one quickly realizes that they are fascinating animals with impressive abilities. They are very caring parents and possess extraordinary skills, such as using the Earth's magnetic field to find food. Furthermore, as mouse hunters, they are very important for both agriculture and forestry and play a significant role in controlling rodent-borne pathogens such as hantaviruses and Borrelia. For these reasons, we should see the fox for what it is – an important part of the ecosystem and an enrichment of our native fauna.

Actually, all hunting of small game should be banned. Those who kill senselessly offer no protection and benefit civilized society in no way. Hobby hunters, therefore, do not contribute to healthy or natural wildlife populations.

Sources:

Further reading

• Fred Kurt: The Roe Deer in the Cultural Landscape. Ecology, Social Behavior, Hunting and Conservation . Kosmos Verlag, Stuttgart 2002, p. 83.
• Federal Hunting Statistics Link
• Explanations and sources Link
• Scientific literature: Studies on the red fox
• Hunters spread diseases: Study
• Hunting promotes diseases: Study
• Amateur hunters in crime: The list
• A ban on senseless fox hunting is long overdue: Article
• Luxembourg extends fox hunting ban: Article
• Small game hunting and wildlife diseases: Article
• Deterring wild animals: Article

Interest Group Wild at Wild

The IG Wild beim Wild (Wild with Wild) is a non-profit advocacy group dedicated to the sustainable and non-violent improvement of the human-animal relationship. The group also specializes in the legal aspects of wildlife protection. One of our main goals is to implement modern and responsible wildlife management in the cultural landscape, modeled on the system used in the Canton of Geneva – without recreational hunters, but with reputable game wardens who truly deserve the title and act according to a code of ethics. The monopoly on the use of force should remain with the state. The IG supports scientifically based methods of immunocontraception for wild animals.