Suspected Poaching in the Maggia Valley – When the Hunt Never Ends
In the lower Maggia Valley (Ticino), investigations are underway into a suspected case of poaching: two young men are alleged to have been out stalking on the day after the end of the main hunting season, armed with a silenced rifle and a night-vision device.
The authorities confirm preliminary investigations but reveal hardly any details.
Tiziano Putelli, head of the Office for Hunting and Wildlife, spoke only of initiated preliminary investigations. No specific information is being provided regarding the location of the incident, the individuals involved, or any seized evidence. This secretive approach fuels the suspicions of many critics: cases of rule violations are frequently handled away from public scrutiny.
Young Hobby Hunters and Prohibited Technology
According to information from reliable sources, the accused are two young men — one was on the verge of obtaining his hunting licence, the other had just finished school, reports tio.ch. Particularly explosive is the use of silencers and night-vision technology. Such devices are highly problematic in civilian hunting practice and are frequently prohibited — their use shifts the boundary between regular hunting and criminal poaching.
A Deeper Problem Within Hunting Culture
The accumulation of violations is no isolated incident: critics increasingly view hunting as a leisure pursuit relying heavily on technology, rather than as a responsible means of regulating wildlife populations.
Animal welfare and environmental organisations are calling for stricter controls, transparent investigations, and harsher sanctions for rule violations. Without systematic accountability, hunting culture risks deteriorating further, and public trust in state oversight will continue to be undermined.
The high season for hobby hunting in Ticino recently came to an end. The hunting season spanned two periods: from September 6 to 21 and from September 24 to 28, totaling 20 hunting days. Nineteen cases of hunting license revocation were reported, primarily due to the use of prohibited equipment such as thermal imaging cameras or non-compliant firearms.
In addition, a serious case of poaching was reported in which a hobby hunter was caught in the act.
In the view of IG Wild beim Wild, hobbyhunters require annual medical-psychological fitness assessments modeled on the Dutch system, as well as a binding upper age limit. The largest age group among hobby hunters today is 65+. Within this group, age-related impairments such as declining vision, slowed reaction times, difficulty concentrating, and cognitive deficits increase statistically and markedly. At the same time, accident analyses show that the number of serious hunting accidents involving injuries and fatalities rises significantly from middle age onward.
The regular reports of hunting accidents, fatal errors of judgment, and the misuse of hunting firearms highlight a structural problem. The private ownership and use of lethal firearms for recreational purposes is largely exempt from continuous oversight. From the perspective of IG Wild beim Wild, this is no longer justifiable. A practice based on voluntary killing that simultaneously generates considerable risks for people and animals forfeits its social legitimacy.
Hobbyhunting is furthermore rooted in speciesism. Speciesism describes the systematic devaluation of non-human animals solely on the basis of their species membership. It is comparable to racism or sexism and cannot be justified on either cultural or ethical grounds. Tradition is no substitute for moral scrutiny.
Critical examination is especially essential in the realm of hobby hunting. Scarcely any other field is so thoroughly shaped by euphemistic narratives, half-truths, and deliberate disinformation. Where violence is normalized, narratives frequently serve as justification. Transparency, verifiable facts, and open public debate are therefore indispensable.
