Wolf Pack Regulation: Cantons Receive Approval
From December 2023, five cantons are permitted to regulate wolf packs preventively. The FOEN has approved most of the applications. Conservation organisations criticise the approach.
Five Cantons Apply for Regulation
From 1 December 2023, cantons may preventively regulate wolf packs under clearly defined conditions, thereby reducing future damage.
Five cantons have applied for the preventive regulation of wolf packs on their territory. The Federal Office for the Environment (FOEN) has reviewed the applications and approves most of them.
On 1 November 2023, the Federal Council brought the first part of the Hunting Act into force on a temporary basis and simultaneously amended the hunting ordinance accordingly. This allows the cantons to carry out preventive pack regulations as early as this December and January.
FOEN Approves 12 of 13 Pack Removals
The cantons of Graubünden, Valais, Vaud, St. Gallen and Ticino have submitted their applications to the Federal Office for the Environment (FOEN) for the regulation of wolf packs on their territory. Currently, more than 30 Switzerland wolf packs have been documented. According to their applications, the cantons wish to remove 13 packs entirely; for six additional packs, they wish to remove up to two thirds of the cubs.
The FOEN has reviewed the applications and approves the removal of 12 entire packs. The FOEN cannot approve the application by the canton of Ticino for the removal of the entire pack in the Valle Onsernone, as there have been no kills in protected situations over the past twelve months.
Culling Limited Until 31 January 2024
It is to be assumed that not all wolves can be removed in accordance with the FOEN's approval, but that nonetheless, as a result of regulation by the cantons, the growth of the wolf population in Switzerland will be significantly curbed, as intended by the Federal Council.
Following the BAFU's approval of the cantonal requests, the cantons may now issue their orders for the cullings. These are to be limited until January 31, 2024. Only wildlife wardens or specially trained recreational hunters are permitted to shoot the wolves.
Source: BAFU
Dossier: Wolf in Switzerland: Facts, Politics and the Limits of Hunting
Further Articles
- Swiss meadows are losing biodiversity at an alarming rate
- When sheep, cattle and others occupy wildlife habitat
- Swiss animal protection organisation criticises planned wolf culls as a threat to pack structures and herd protection
- In Graubünden, wolf management incompetence runs rampant
- Val Fex: When the herd protection concept has more holes than the fence
- Culling instead of protection – Switzerland on the path to silent wolf extermination
- Communication failure at the Office for Hunting and Fishing Graubünden
- Illegal wolf hunting in Switzerland
- Wolf cubs in Switzerland under fire
- Switzerland sells wolf massacre as a success
- Sloppiness in the office of Katrin Schneeberger
- Livestock grazing alters the soil, plant life and insect populations
- The absurd hunt for wolves in Switzerland
- The truth about sheep mortality in Switzerland: causes and statistics
- Wolf culls in Switzerland: concerns over party politician Albert Rösti
- Let us stop the SVP's destructive rage
- Call to action: An appeal for change in Switzerland
- 200 environmental organisations from 6 continents call on the Swiss government: Stop the wolf cull
- Federal Council comes under heavy criticism from wolf experts
- The consequences of controversial wolf management in Switzerland
- Wolf: Federal Councillor Rösti (SVP) circumvents law and order
- Es Burebüebli mahn i nit
- Are the BAFU and hunting administrations still operating responsibly?
- Federal Councillor Albert Rösti tramples the will of the people
- The consequences of controversial wolf management in Switzerland
- Too many sheep are harming biodiversity
- Agricultural use destroys alpine meadows
- Kills despite herd protection – how is that possible?
- The rotten apple in the St. Gallen hunting administration
- Pro Natura calls for a comprehensive strategy for summer sheep grazing
- According to an Agridea study, herd protection with dogs works well
- Thanks to herd protection, wolves in Switzerland are killing fewer livestock
- Farmers treat fields as dumping grounds
- Biomass of wildlife
- On sheep farmers and evasive authorities
- The double standards of wolf opponents
More on the subject of recreational hunting: In our dossiers on recreational hunting gather fact-checks, analyses and background reports. 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.
