Switzerland Hunts – But Why, Really?

The hunting season for the gun-toting hobby hunters in Switzerland runs in most cantons from 1 April to 31 March of the following year.

Approximately 100 mammal species live in Switzerland. They are divided into insectivores, bats, rodents, hares, predators and ungulates.

While most Swiss people encounter wildlife at most while hiking or on a wildlife camera, an astonishingly large number of militant hobby hunters still head into forests and mountains year after year.

Their bloody tally: 65’811 ungulates – roe deer, red deer and chamois – were shot in the 2023/24 hunting year. In addition, more than 1’200 protected ibex were killed during the high hunt. But that is only part of the picture. During the so-called small game hunt, which leading biologists consider entirely pointless and which primarily affects predators, a further 23’565 animals were killed. Nearly 20’000 of these were red foxes. Wolves and lynx are not listed in the newly published statistics.

Pointless Fox Hunting?

Few animals divide hobby hunters and animal and nature conservationists as sharply as the fox. For some, it is a “regulation case”; for others, a symbol of outdated hunting traditions. Scientifically, the matter has long been settled: more than 18 studies confirm that fox hunting neither regulates populations nor protects against disease. On the contrary – culling can destroy social structures within populations and even intensify disease dynamics.

Nevertheless, tens of thousands of animals are shot every year – a contradiction of the Animal Welfare Act, which only permits interventions with a “reasonable justification.” No such justification exists in this case, argues IG Wild beim Wild.

Endangered Species in the Crosshairs

Even more absurd is the hobby hunting of species that have long been considered endangered. The European hare, for example, is on the Red List, and its populations have collapsed since the 1950s. Nevertheless, almost 1’400 hares were shot in the past hunting season — despite protective regulations in several cantons.

The rock ptarmigan is also potentially endangered and officially protected. Nevertheless, 282 animals fell victim to the guns of these perpetrators of violence. The contradictions in Swiss hunting law are thus laid bare.

Geneva: A Different Model

The Canton of Geneva takes an entirely different approach. In 1974, the population voted by referendum to abolish hobby hunting. Since then, around a dozen game wardens have managed wildlife populations. They intervene only when truly necessary.

The result: 286 wild boar, 36 roe deer and 19 red deer were shot last year — significantly fewer than in cantons with a strong hunting culture. Foxes, badgers, hares, etc.? Zero. The contrast is striking: while Geneva manages its wildlife and wildlife damage with an annual budget of one million francs — the equivalent of one cup of coffee per resident — the similarly sized Canton of Schaffhausen records nearly 2’000 kills of ungulates alone, plus hundreds of predators shot. Since Geneva has an international airport, birds are shot in the interest of public safety. In addition, there are also authority-approved bird culls carried out for the railway and a small number of farmers.

And the damages? They are barely any different. On the contrary: during the hunting season, many animals from the surrounding cantons and from France seek refuge in Geneva — living proof that wildlife avoids hunting areas.

Sanitary and therapeutic culls carried out by Geneva's approximately 12 game wardens are not the same as the regulatory hunting practiced according to hunters' jargon or the misguided nature experience of hobby hunters.

Before the hunting ban for hobby hunters in Geneva more than 400 hunting licenses were sold per year. Three full-time positions are now required for wildlife regulation and prevention, representing an enormous gain for biodiversity that is both scientifically documented and visibly apparent. Typical Swiss values such as safety, animal welfare, and ethics are the guiding principles in Geneva. Overall, the canton of Geneva must raise approximately one million francs per year, including wildlife damage costs, for wildlife management. By comparison, fishing would consume significantly more costs, even though licenses are sold there as well.

Between Uncultured Practice and Science

The recreational hunt in Switzerland stands at a crossroads. Scientific studies are increasingly revealing its contradictions and inefficiency. Even the Federal Office for the Environment (FOEN) communicates through Wildlife Switzerland that hunting statistics only allow limited conclusions about the state of wildlife populations.

In the disorder in which nature finds itself after decades of unscientific stewardship by hobby hunters, it is hardly surprising that more and more stakeholders are voicing complaints.

What remains is a picture of two realities: on one side, cantons where tens of thousands of animals die each year in the name of “culling.” On the other side, Geneva, which has been proving for half a century that modern, animal welfare-oriented wildlife management is possible — and works.

The question presses itself upon us: How much longer does Switzerland wish to cling to a system that is neither scientifically sound nor ethically justifiable?

Hobby hunting not only lacks cultural significance and has barely any economic relevance, but also carries grave ecological consequences. Those who love nature should be aware that every disturbance — even seemingly minor ones — has direct effects on the lives of animals, biodiversity, and the environment. What one loves, one does not kill. A balanced wildlife management approach such as that of the canton of Geneva is therefore essential for preserving species diversity and natural tranquility in our forests.

• Hunters spread diseases: Study
• Scientific literature: Studies on the red fox
• Hunting promotes diseases: Study
• Luxembourg extends fox hunting ban: Article
• Ban on pointless fox hunting is long overdue: Article
• Small game hunting and wildlife diseases: Article
• Deterrence of wildlife: Article

More on this in the dossier: Psychology of Hunting

Natural Disaster: Hobby Hunters

In the chaos in which nature finds itself after decades of stewardship and management by hobby hunters, the proportion of endangered species is higher in no other country in the world than in Switzerland. For decades, these contract killers have been creating an ecological imbalance in the cultivated landscape, with sometimes dramatic consequences (protective forests, diseases, agricultural damage, and much more). Over a third of plant, wildlife and fungal species are considered endangered. Switzerland also ranks last in Europe when it comes to designating protected areas for biodiversity. It is precisely these circles of hobby hunters, through their lobbying efforts in politics, media, and legislation, who have been responsible for this for decades. They are the ones who notoriously block contemporary, ethical improvements in animal welfare and sabotage serious animal and species protection. Hobby hunters regularly oppose more national parks in Switzerland, because their concern is not nature, biodiversity, species conservation, or animal welfare, but rather the pursuit of their perverted, bloody hobby.

Did you know …

• that in Switzerland innocent young wolves are being liquidated?
• that hobby hunters lie about the assessment of game meat quality, and that according to the WHO, processed game meat is carcinogenic — like cigarettes, asbestos, or arsenic?
• that according to studies, nowhere is the lead contamination of golden eagles and bearded vultures higher than in the Swiss Alps, due to the ammunition used by hobby hunters?
• that the fair chase ethics of hobby hunters are diametrically opposed to the Animal Welfare Act and are nothing but a mirage?
• that hunting is war, where animal competitors are simply eliminated?
• that there are countless illegal and unmarked hunting blinds in our natural environment, some so rotten that they pose a danger to children and can cause people to lose their lives?
• that year after year, countless people are killed or injured by hunters’ weapons — some so severely that they end up in wheelchairs or have limbs amputated?
• that in Switzerland, approximately 120,000 perfectly healthy roe deer, red deer, foxes, marmots, and chamois are killed every year, mostly without purpose?
• that because of hobby hunters, it has today become nearly impossible to live in harmony with wildlife or to see wild animals at all?
• that shotgun loads make hares scream like small children and tear apart the entrails of “shot” deer and stags so that they leave a trail for the tracking dog to follow during the search?
• that the claim by hobby hunters that the cruel wildlife massacres are necessary to regulate animal populations has been scientifically refuted?
• that hobby hunters openly admit that hunting is about the “pleasure of killing” and “the joy of making a kill” — a pathological obsession?
• that hobby hunters have no sixth sense and yet regularly claim they only shoot sick and weak animals, which is of course not true in practice?
• that hobby hunters travel abroad for trophy hunting, far from any species protection and hunting regulations, and that there are even Swiss hobby hunter travel agencies offering such debased hunting pleasures?
• that the overwhelming majority are not legitimate professional hunters, but pursue hunting as a hobby, sport and leisure activity, which is immoral and actually contradicts the Animal Protection Act?
• that 99.07% of civilised people in Switzerland are not hobby hunters, meaning only 0.3% of hobby hunters take pleasure in these bloody activities?
• that these wildlife killers do not hunt on the basis of scientific justifications?
• that protected species should not actually fall under hunting law, because hobby hunters are overwhelmed by species conservation and repeatedly shoot animals on the Red List — such as lynx, wolf, brown hare, partridge, quail, etc. — for fun?
• that hobby hunters deliberately decimate certain animal species in order to eliminate competition for their unnatural behavior — fox, lynx, wolf, birds of prey, etc.?
• that wildlife dies before the hobby hunter can even fire a single shot, that this is what must be prevented, and that this is arguably the central concern of wildlife stewardship, management and hunting planning?
• that with wild boar (and foxes), normally only the lead sow produces young, but due to her being shot, all female animals within the group reproduce, and that this is also a reason why we have a wild boar overpopulation?
• that grazing animals — deer, roe deer, etc. — originally lived mainly as daytime animals in fields and meadows, like goats, sheep, cows, etc., and not in the forest?
• that the wolf is vital for the long-term health of wild ungulates, because it hunts sick or weak animals with incredible precision, for example, and is therefore vastly superior to hobby hunters?
• that foxes usually end up in the trash after pointless hunting?
• that foxes are hunted today primarily so that there are more hares, etc. for hobby hunters' frying pans? That the fox, however, feeds on hares in fewer than 10% of cases and would never catch a healthy hare?
• that in animal protection, one cannot deal with hobby hunters using only gentleness, street festivals, prayer chains, etc. (you must fight fire with fire)?
• that hobby hunters, with their hunters' tall tales engage in a disrespectful mockery of living beings?
• that it is frowned upon to shoot big game at feeding stations or during mating season, yet hobby hunters have no scruples about doing exactly this to the fox, their competitor for prey?
• that in some cantons hobby hunters go hunting solely for the tender meat of a young animal?
• that hobby hunters shoot pregnant mother deer in front of their young, or target only young animals during the rearing period (post-special hunt)?
• that hobby hunters poison the environment, nature, humans and animals with their ammunition?
• that bestiality, barbarism, cruelty, bloodshed and senseless suffering cannot be considered cultural heritage in a civilized society?
• that hobby hunters shoot approximately 10’000 roe deer fawns every year?
• that hobby hunters in harsh winters lure starving animals with food only to shoot them in a treacherous and cowardly manner?
• that hobby hunters send specially trained dogs into burrows to eliminate foxes and badgers (earth hunting)?
• that hobby hunters lure peaceful living beings into box traps, where they may suffer for days awaiting their killer, or subject animals to an agonizing death struggle lasting hours (trap hunting)?
• that hobby hunters cowardly ambush peaceful wild animals while they sleep or sunbathe, killing or wounding them with state-of-the-art precision weapons?
• that hobby hunters support awards, fur markets, trophy cult prize ceremonies, trophy shows, fur trading, etc.?
• that hobby hunters place firearms into the hands of underage schoolchildren and practice killing with them?
• that hobby hunters often carry out their cruel acts in isolation, which encourages animal cruelty?
• that hobby hunters severely injure many wild animals, leaving the victims often suffer for hours under enormous pain and fear until a blood-tracking dog finds them and they are shot?
• that hobby hunters (apart from vivisection) inflict the most suffering and abuse on animals, including through the manner of killing?
• that the hunter's love of animals and nature does not take pleasure in the existence of the beloved object, but rather aims to possess the beloved creature body and soul, culminating in turning it into prey through the act of killing?
• that hobby hunters actively promote browsing damage through hunting pressure, particularly on predators such as fox, lynx and wolf?
• that hobby hunters open the door to antisocial, unethical and unchristian behavior ?
• that hobby hunters deprive the public of normal, natural wildlife observation and interactions?
• that there is no greater torment product contaminated with ammunition than venison?
• that there is no uniform regulation across Switzerland regarding vision tests, shooting practice, etc. for hobby hunters?
• that there is no psychological aptitude test for hobby hunters?
• that there is no ban on alcohol for hobby hunters when they are shooting at animals with their weapons?
• that hobby hunters intrude into educational institutions to push their hunting lore and their violence on children?
• that a court in Bellinzona recently confirmed that hunting associations promote virtually everything that is cruel, unnecessary and heartless?
• that the association «Jagd Schweiz» cultivates above all disrespect and a culture of violence – the exact opposite of what a civilised person in our society should aspire to.
• that in the canton of Grisons alone, over 1’000 reports and fines are issued against hobby hunters every year?