Podcast episode: Hunting, wildlife and animal welfare
Four thematic areas, one question: what do the figures tell us that are missing from the self-portrayal of recreational hunting?
Podcast episode: Hunting, wildlife and animal welfare
In this episode, IG Wild beim Wild takes apart four thematic areas.
First, it addresses the contradictions of hunting ethics: in the canton of Jura, recreational hunters put in one working day a year for nature – while their president mobilises against the wolf and the lynx. On top of that comes a wounding rate of 54 per cent in bow hunting.
Then comes the question of whose fear counts politically: no documented wolf bites on humans in Switzerland since 1995, but 860 dog bites in the canton of Zurich alone in the last year. And in the northern Vosges, the lynx Lycka has given birth to offspring – the first since the 17th century.
The third part is about the returnees of the skies: the first osprey brood in the Three Lakes region since 1914 and the stork record of 1,770 wintering birds. Set against this are homing pigeon races with loss rates of over 50 per cent.
Finally, it turns to what ends up on the plate after a day's hunting: lead ammunition in game meat, official warnings for pregnant women and children, and the poisoning of predators.
More on the subject of recreational hunting: The scientific evidence is presented in the overview Studies on the Effects of Recreational Hunting.
The position of IG Wild beim Wild: IG Wild beim Wild rejects recreational hunting. Our model is the canton of Geneva, which has managed without recreational hunting since 1974: without hunting seasons, without hunting dogs, without driven hunts, without high seats, without the animal cruelty and crime that go hand in hand with hunting season elsewhere. What has worked there for over fifty years disproves every position paper by JagdSchweiz. An association that bases its policy on claims it refutes in its own documents is not a professional organisation, but a factory for misinformation.
