Swiss Recreational Hunters: Almost 100’000 Wild Animals Killed
Switzerland's 30'000 recreational hunters shot almost 100'000 wild animals last year.
According to the new hunting statistics, these figures as well as wildlife populations have remained fairly stable.
According to data in the hunting statistics, around 76’000 wild ungulates and just under 22’000 predators were killed in 2023. The latter include red fox, badger, pine marten and stone marten. While roe deer and chamois populations have remained stable across Switzerland, those of red deer and ibex show a tendency to increase.
However, because wild animals are difficult to count and their populations depend on numerous factors, the hunting statistics alone cannot provide “reliable conclusions about the condition of wildlife species.”
Important data for cantonal wildlife management
Wildtier Schweiz conducts the Federal Hunting Statistics on huntable, protected and non-native mammals and birds on behalf of the Federal Office for the Environment (FOEN).
Data on populations, kills, dead finds and causes of death are collected by the cantons and are important for their wildlife management. The hunting season lasted in most cantons from 1 April 2023 to the end of March 2024.
More on the subject of recreational hunting: In the dossier The Role and Criticism of Recreational Hunters we shed light on the training, power and self-image of recreational hunters. 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.
