Petition: Electric netting must not be a death trap for wild animals

According to a cantonal survey by the Swiss Animal Protection STS in 2020, an estimated 3,000 to 4,500 wild animals die in fences in Switzerland every year. The number of injured animals is likely to be three to four times higher, according to the STS. More than 70 per cent of the recorded deaths were attributable to electric netting, according to the STS information sheet.

The problem persists. According to a Nau.ch report of 17 October 2026, 73 cases of wild animals caught in fences have already been recorded in Grisons this year, mainly roe deer and red deer, but also chamois, foxes and hares. The type of fence involved is not systematically recorded there. In the canton of Schwyz, according to Nau.ch, 53 wild animals died in fences between 2015 and 2018, around 65 per cent of them in Flexinet netting.

Why electric netting is so dangerous

Once a wild animal has become caught in electric netting, it is often unable to free itself. Attempts to break free can pull the mesh ever tighter around the legs and neck. With electrified nets, repeated electric shocks are added to this. Without timely help, the animal faces severe injuries and an agonising death.

For hedgehogs, the situation is particularly precarious. When they come across an unfamiliar obstacle, they often bite into it. If they happen to bite a live wire, the electric shock can trigger lockjaw: the hedgehog can no longer let go and usually dies of circulatory failure. According to experience at a hedgehog rescue centre, even animals that are freed alive are often so badly injured that they can no longer be saved.

Orange-red nets are poorly visible to roe deer and other ungulates. Ungulates see with only two types of cone and can barely distinguish orange and red from the green of a meadow, whereas they perceive blue well. The IG Wild beim Wild already pointed this out in 2023 with the petition «Stop the sale of pasture nets that endanger animals» pointed out. The herd protection advisory service of Agridea also states that orange nets are poorly visible to livestock and wild animals, and recommends blue-and-white fluttering tape.

Nets that are left standing after use, are poorly tensioned or no longer carry current are particularly dangerous. While in use, electric pasture nets must therefore be properly live, so that animals recoil at first contact. For animals that have already become entangled, however, the electric shocks mean additional suffering.

Strand fences: the safer alternative

Fences made of several tensioned strands are considerably less dangerous for wild animals than nets. There are no meshes in which legs, necks or antlers can become entangled. If they are properly erected and maintained, accidents at such fences are rare. Sheep keepers who use strand fences consider the protection of their flocks to be good.

For a polywire fence to protect against the wolf as well, it needs at least four strands, a height of at least 90 cm, a maximum of 25 cm between the strands, a bottom strand no more than 20 cm above the ground and a voltage of at least 3,000 volts. The strands can be adjusted in height. If young lambs are on the pasture, the bottom strand can be temporarily lowered slightly without endangering small animals such as hedgehogs or amphibians. Even a polywire fence, however, must be checked daily, kept taut and live, and dismantled again after use. Loose strands or strands lying on the ground also become a trap.

The rules exist; enforcement is what matters

The basis is the Swiss federal Animal Welfare Act and the Animal Welfare Ordinance. In its Pasture Fence Information Sheet, the Grisons Office for Food Safety and Animal Health states that flexible pasture nets must be removed "immediately, but at the latest within 5 days after use", including on rotational pastures, and that fences must be checked daily. In the case of serious violations, it cites sanctions affecting direct payments. Thurgau obliges owners to remove unused fences that pose a risk of injury to wild animals. The cantonal rules mentioned vary in how specific they are. What matters is that removal obligations and inspection requirements are also checked and consistently enforced on remote pastures.

Herd protection yes, death traps no

IG Wild beim Wild supports herd protection. This requires binding rules so that protective measures for livestock do not become a trap for wild animals. As Felix Hahn of the agricultural advisory centre Agridea puts it: "Fundamentally, herd protection is also wildlife protection".

Our demands

• Removal obligation: A binding removal obligation must be introduced for the whole of Switzerland: pasture nets must be dismantled completely immediately after the end of their respective use, and at the latest within five days. This also applies after a change of pasture. Other mobile pasture fences must be removed as soon as they are no longer needed, at the latest at the end of the respective grazing season.
• Daily inspection: Pasture nets and strand fences in use must be checked daily along their entire length and any defects repaired immediately.
• Strand fences instead of pasture nets: Wherever possible, polywire fences should be used instead of electric netting. They must meet the basic protection standard: at least four strands, at least 90 cm high, a maximum of 25 cm between strands, the bottom strand no more than 20 cm above the ground, and at least 3,000 volts. This keeps the wolf out and lets small animals pass. For young lambs, the bottom strand may be temporarily lowered, provided hedgehogs, amphibians and other small animals can still pass.
• Enforcement: The cantons regularly check compliance with the fencing rules and enforce them consistently.
• Reporting obligation and statistics: Wild animals that are injured or die in fences must be reported. The cantons publish annual statistics broken down by animal species and fence type.
• Funding: Herd protection subsidies should be tied to the professional and wildlife-friendly construction of the fences that receive funding. Breaches of binding fencing requirements should be taken into account in direct payments. What is required are fences that are clearly visible to wild animals, i.e. blue-and-white or with blue-and-white flutter tape rather than orange or red, correctly tensioned and reliably live in the case of electric systems, as well as sufficiently wide fence-free wildlife passages between fenced areas.
• Retail: Retailers should end the sale of orange and red pasture nets and offer clearly visible blue-and-white nets and flutter tape instead. At the point of sale, they should provide information on proper use, daily inspection and removal, and take back old nets.

Anyone who finds an entangled wild animal should immediately inform the wildlife wardens or the police. Background information and current figures can be found in the article “Fences as animal traps: 73 wild animals entangled in Grisons”. For members of cantonal parliaments we have prepared a template text for animal-welfare-compliant fencing and pasture net requirements.