Petition: Stop the year-round hunting of raccoons
Under the Swiss Federal Hunting Act, the raccoon is classed as a non-native species and can be hunted in Switzerland all year round, without any closed season.
Unlike native species, the regulations provide no closed season during which nursing mothers are protected. This means parent animals can be killed even while their young are waiting in the den for food, and these offspring have little chance of surviving without their mother.
The population remains small, yet the kill figures in the Federal Hunting Statistics are rising sharply: from 2 animals killed in 2020 to 13 (2021), 17 (2022), and already 44 in 2023, of which 35 were in the canton of Basel-Landschaft alone. In the Basel region, raccoons are now caught in live traps and subsequently killed. The justification is always the same: their “wrong” origin.
This very logic is professionally questionable. In Germany, where more than 282,000 raccoons were killed in the 2024/2025 hunting year, the population continues to grow despite intensive hunting. The available evidence suggests that recreational hunting has no sustainable effect on the population here either: hunted populations show a higher proportion of females capable of reproducing, and losses from killing are quickly offset by increased offspring. More on this in the dossier “Raccoon Switzerland: killed for the wrong origin” as well as in the dossier “Neozoa and hunting in Switzerland”.
That there is another way is shown by the raccoon project in Kassel: animals are caught, sterilised and released again, in a manner consistent with animal welfare and without killing. Under EU Regulation 1143/2014, such population controls are explicitly permitted. Our animal-friendly tips.
show how raccoons can be kept away from residential areas without lethal means.
Dear Sir or Madam of the cantonal hunting and fisheries authorities
Dear members of the Conference for Forest, Wildlife and Landscape
Dear representatives of the Federal Office for the Environment
I am writing to you because, under the Swiss Federal Hunting Act, the raccoon may be hunted in Switzerland all year round, without a closed season, as it is classed as a non-native species, and because in my view this practice is neither compatible with animal welfare nor effective.
The raccoon did not come to Europe of its own accord. It was imported from North America and released in the 1920s and 1930s for the fur industry. Its presence today is directly man-made. Pursuing it under the label “invasive” shifts responsibility for human action onto the animal.
Year-round hunting without a closed season is problematic from an animal welfare perspective. Because the regulations for neozoa provide no closed period to protect nursing mothers, parent animals can also be killed during the rearing period. The offspring left behind in the den then have little chance of survival. In addition, trap hunting is widely used when hunting predators. Animal welfare organisations point out that live-trapping wild animals can cause considerable stress and suffering. In the case of raccoons, the risk of a non-immediately fatal injury is particularly high, as they reach for bait with their front paws.
According to the evidence available so far, hunting does not achieve its stated goal. Long-term research suggests that raccoons respond to hunting pressure with increased reproduction. In hunted populations, the proportion of reproducing females is higher than in unhunted ones. The more animals are killed, the more young are born. In Germany, where more than 282,000 raccoons were killed in the 2024/2025 hunting year, the population continues to grow despite intensive hunting.
The species-protection argument also rests on shaky ground. I am not aware of any robust long-term evidence of a sustained impact by the raccoon on any native species. It feeds mainly on easily available food such as earthworms, insects, snails and fruit. The decline of endangered species is primarily due to human causes such as habitat loss and road traffic.
I call on you to:
Refrain from year-round, closed-season-free hunting of the raccoon, as long as the evidence so far shows it neither sustainably reduces the population nor serves species protection.
Ban trap hunting of raccoons, as it can cause avoidable animal suffering.
Promote non-lethal, animal welfare-compliant measures, such as sterilisation programmes, prevention, and animal-friendly deterrence in residential areas.
Place responsibility for the raccoon's presence where it belongs, with the humans who introduced it, and not with the animal.
Yours sincerely
Add your voice now
Your signature counts.
I signed because...
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«Humans must finally learn to live with nature and not kill everything that doesn't suit them.»
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«Use one way doors and artificial dens if they are in the attic.»
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«“The right to life is in no way based on the value that this life has for others ... Animals have the right to live because their life is valuable to THEM.” - Will Kymlicka By what right does anyone dare to decide over the life and death of others??? Hunting is MURDER! People become hunters because they want to murder!»
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«I don't want the animals to be killed.»
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«I am signing because it cannot be that we bring animals into the country, then label them an invasive species, and then the hunters rejoice. All animals have the right to life. The Kassel raccoon project is very good.»
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«I don't want raccoons to be killed. Like other animals, they are important for nature. Humans should keep their hands off—wherever humans interfere, disaster follows»
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«We are no longer in the Middle Ages. This senseless slaughter of raccoons by humans serves no purpose for the environment. And the recreational hunters? The archetype who can't occupy themselves with anything meaningful. Shame on you! 🤬»
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«all forms of hunting must be abolished»
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«Living animals gladden our hearts. Dead animals horrify us. Let the sweet raccoons live. i»
Read more (50)
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«as an animal lover»
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«Take a leaf out of Kassel's book!»
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«I cannot find the words to explain the hateful machinations of humanity against nature and everything it contains...»
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«Please finally stop the killing of raccoons!! Every animal has a right to exist»
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«Only animal abusers and irresponsible people could approve of year-round hunting.»
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«Animal welfare effectively does not exist.»
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«Stop the year-round, closed-season-free hunting of raccoons!!!!!»
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«The hunter loves nature the way a paedophile loves children ....................!!!»
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«Disgusting people!!!»
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«Because every form of hunting is simply reprehensible and cruel! And because it isn't right that animals have to suffer because of a few trigger-happy people!! Shame!!»
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«Because I am against the hunting of wild animals in general. Besides, a raccoon is so beautiful that I don't understand how one could kill it. Couldn't you put your petition on Campax for more visibility? Thank you»
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«This senseless hunting of living creatures must finally stop. The earth doesn't belong to us humans alone.»
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«I support an animal-friendly method, since hunting raccoons — and animals in general — should be rejected, as it is neither sustainable nor humane as a means of population control.»
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«I feel so sorry for the animals»
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«There are better methods for limiting the number of raccoons than killing. While hunting ultimately increases the number of animals, sterilisation really does achieve a decline in the population.»
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«I am signing because I am against unnecessary animal suffering, and there are better solutions than tormenting animals that we ourselves brought into the country»
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«Because I want to protect raccoons»
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«I am against animal slaughter and senseless decisions. Animals should have space and protection!!!»
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«Killing animals is not the solution.»
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«With climate change, the habitats of animals are changing too, and in my opinion we should accept that. Humans feel they can take whatever they want, without any consideration for nature and animals. Whatever bothers them, they chase away or kill. We should instead treat nature with more care.»
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«.......because an animal is a living being, no matter where it comes from. Should the same be done with asylum seekers, they are also invasive!!!!»
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«I find it appalling that hunting takes place at all, and that mothers of young animals may be shot is simply inhumane in my view. How can a feeling person do such a thing😭😭😭»
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«Hunting creatures for fun is appalling and all-year hunting is unfathomable. Our wildlife deserves to have a fear free life within protected habitat.»
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«Humans don't need to regulate everything; nature manages that on its own.»
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«there have always been and still are neozoa at all times. many have integrated well.. others, like certain ant colonies, have not, nor have grey squirrels.. they tend to displace native species.. but what displaces these raccoons?? in principle, killing animals cannot be justified.. and must be regarded as a criminal act. if law is supposed to be scientifically grounded, free of arbitrariness, and objectively justified.»
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«The raccoon deserves protection just like any other animal. That is why I advocate for the Kassel model: catch, sterilise and release.»
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«Because this absolutely has to stop»
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«I am signing because every animal has a right to its life and you simply cannot shoot everything that is a nuisance. There must be another solution.»
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«Because every living being has a right to live, I love raccoons»
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«This is barbaric and uncivilized!»
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«Because I myself help raccoons»
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«Every animal has a right to a sheltered and unharmed life.»
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«I hand-raised a little raccoon, and now I know what wonderful, affectionate and lovable animals they are!»
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«Everyone has a right to life»
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«I love raccoons and they have a right to live……damned hobby killers⁉️🔫»
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«It works without killing too. You just have to want it.»
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«Because I agree that permitting hunting only makes everything worse, and that rescued raccoons should not be released back into the wild either. The law urgently needs to change here.»
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«Bears matter to me. Raccoons are wonderful animals.»
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«I believe the raccoon does not deserve to be treated this way, because it never asked to be brought here. It is no more dangerous than other predators and deserves the same chance as all other animals. I am from Germany, where raccoons are also heavily hunted, but as far as I know a closed season now at least applies to them, even though it is not enough.»
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«Animals also have the right to live without being persecuted and hunted»
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«Raccoons must be protected»
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«Animal welfare applies to all animals»
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«Because killing is no solution; the way it's being handled now is unacceptable, cruel, and must be stopped.»
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«Because I am against the killing of raccoons. Castration, an ear tag for identification—that, I think, is the best solution. Humans brought them here, so we bear a sensible responsibility for the raccoons.»
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«I am against hunting.»
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«I like raccoons»
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«....no animal should be hunted, not even the 🦝 ❤️,»
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«The raccoon has lived in Europe for 90 years, and we should learn to live with it. Killing is wrong – always. Anyone without a hunting licence knows that hunting only spurs the animals' reproduction; apparently only recreational hunters don't know it. Or rather, they want to kill because it's fun for them.»
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«Because the war against wild animals and plants shows contempt for life.»
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«The raccoon has just as much right to live. Humans destroy habitats and provide no compensation.»
News
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