Podcast Episode: Hunting, Lobby and the Wolf Dispute

This edition of «Wild beim Wild» addresses the gap between scientific data, hunting-policy demands and actual practice in the cantons.

At the centre are the planned wolf kills — and for the first time also lynx kills — in Valais, the contentious fox hunting, the hunting seasons in Grisons and Ticino, as well as the political influence of the hunting lobby.

In Valais, a kill permit for lynx is under debate, even though researchers from the University of Bern estimate the canton's population at around 37 independent animals rather than the politically cited figure of up to 80. While the lynx population has only begun recovering from a historic low in the past few years, the canton simultaneously wants to have several wolf packs fully or partially removed. Key foundations such as pack-specific kill figures and genetic evidence remain partly unresolved.

The episode also highlights the contradictions in the debate over fox hunting: JagdSchweiz calls for intensive hunting, yet itself admits that this barely reduces the overall population in the long term. Scientifically, the decline of grey partridges and hares is explained primarily by habitat loss and intensive agriculture. At the same time, even positions close to hunting circles acknowledge that lynx and wolves can naturally limit fox numbers.

Another key focus is on cantonal hunting systems. Grisons plans 4,616 red deer kills and relies, through its high hunt and special hunt, on a system that grants protection to mother animals only seasonally. The consequences for calves, social herd structures and animal welfare stand in contrast to the logic of quota fulfilment. Also addressed are mistaken kills, killed dogs, lack of transparency regarding fines and reports, as well as the media normalisation of hunting, for instance through a photo competition offering a hunting licence as a prize.

In Ticino, the high hunt claimed two fatalities as early as its first weekend. In Lucerne, a new forest-wildlife strategy admits that problems such as browsing damage remain unresolved despite decades of organised hunting. The targeted hunting of red deer hinds is also examined critically, since the loss of the mother can have serious social and health consequences for calves.

Finally, the episode turns its attention to hunting policy and lobbying: around 100 members of parliament attended a game meat buffet hosted by JagdSchweiz, while the association strategically cultivates its contacts in the Federal Palace. The episode's central question is: Who collects the figures, who interprets them – and who ultimately decides on the life and death of wild animals?