Geneva: Population wants contraceptives for wildlife
More than 67% of votes were in favour of using the immunocontraceptive vaccine GonaCon as an alternative to hunting.
Currently, 27 states on all continents are using or testing contraceptives such as GonaCon to stabilise or reduce populations of wildlife that live in excessive numbers or cause damage.
The aim of these programmes is to replace the hunting of animals, whether for ethical reasons or due to a lack of effectiveness.
It is time for us to evolve in wildlife management and for our political leaders to develop humility and compassion for all living beings that we eliminate for simple practical reasons, out of tradition, or because it is cheaper to kill them than to respect them.
Despite the hunting ban called for by the Geneva population in 1974, the canton authorises the culling of hundreds of wild boar and dozens of deer every year in order to limit the damage caused by these animals to crops and forests.
Wildlife management and reduction measures are decided within the Département du Territoire (DT) under the responsibility of State Councillor Antonio Hodgers and carried out by the cantonal Office for Agriculture and Nature (OCAN).
Following the DT's decision in October 2023 to authorise the culling of 25 deer in the forests of Versoix, an online survey open exclusively to residents of the Canton of Geneva was launched from 1 March to 30 April 2024.
A dedicated website was set up for the survey, accessible at the following address: https://sondage-geneve-faune.ch.
67.39% of participants voted in favour of vaccination, while 30.8% supported culling. 1.63% of voters had “no opinion”.
Interestingly, the choice of votes is quite clearly gender-specific: 83.52% of female votes were in favor of vaccination, while 16.48% voted for culling. Conversely, 60.11% of male votes were in favor of culling compared to 39.89% for vaccination.
The age group of 41- to 65-year-olds contributed more than half of the votes with a voter turnout of 53.2 %. This is representative of the ballot, as the median age of voters in Switzerland averages 60 years.
The age group of 26- to 40-year-olds followed with 22.85% of the votes, followed by those aged 66 and older with 15.9% of the votes. Youth voter turnout was low, with 7.68 % among 18- to 25-year-olds and 0.37 % among those under 18.
65.38% women and 34.07% men voted. 0.55 % of votes came from persons who did not identify with either gender.
