Cantonal popular initiative: Canton of Thurgau

«For professional wildlife protection»

Constitutional initiative in the form of a drafted proposal

Based on § 26 of the Constitution of the Canton of Thurgau of 16 March 1987 and on the Act on Voting and Electoral Rights

Submitted by the initiative committee [date of submission]

Text of the initiative

The undersigned persons entitled to vote in the Canton of Thurgau submit the following constitutional initiative:

The Constitution of the Canton of Thurgau of 16 March 1987 is supplemented by the following paragraphs:

§ [new] Professional wildlife protection

1 The exercise of hunting by private individuals (territorial hunting, recreational hunting) is prohibited throughout the entire territory of the Canton of Thurgau. Existing hunting lease agreements will not be renewed.

2 The protection, care and, where necessary, regulation of wild animals shall be the exclusive responsibility of professionally trained wildlife managers employed by the canton.

3 The killing of wild animals is only permitted as a last resort, when all other suitable measures for preventing damage or averting danger have been exhausted or are insufficient. It requires prior approval by the Wildlife Commission.

4 The canton shall establish an independent Wildlife Commission, composed of representatives of animal welfare and nature conservation organisations, the scientific community and the authorities concerned. The commission shall oversee wildlife management and decide on regulatory measures.

5 The canton shall promote the natural regulation of wildlife populations, the connectivity of habitats and the coexistence of humans and wild animals.

6 The canton shall provide appropriate compensation to affected municipalities for the loss of hunting lease revenue during a five-year transitional period.

7 Further details shall be regulated by law.

§ [new] Protection of endangered and protected wild animal species

1 The canton refrains from regulating populations of protected wild animal species pursuant to Art. 7a of the Federal Act on Hunting and the Protection of Wild Mammals and Birds and does not grant kill permits for individual animals of protected species pursuant to Art. 12 para. 2 of this Act, in particular not for wolf, lynx, bear, beaver, otter, golden jackal, golden eagle, goosander and other species protected under federal law. Paragraph 3 remains reserved.

2 It relies on fostering coexistence between humans and wild animals, passive damage prevention, the ecological enhancement of habitats and the scientific monitoring of wild animal presence.

3 Measures against individual wild animals that pose an immediate and significant danger to humans remain reserved. They are to be limited to the minimum necessary and carried out by the canton's competent specialist authority.

4 The canton actively advocates for the protection and preservation of endangered wild animal species within the framework of inter-cantonal cooperation and towards the Confederation.

Transitional provision

1 The cantonal government shall issue the necessary implementing provisions within two years of the adoption of this constitutional amendment.

2 Existing hunting lease agreements shall expire no later than five years after the implementing legislation enters into force. Municipalities that lose hunting lease revenue will be appropriately compensated during the transitional period.

3 The cantonal government shall ensure continuity of wildlife management during the transitional phase.

Explanatory notes

1. Starting position

In the Canton of Thurgau, a predominantly rural canton with just under 300,000 inhabitants across 991 km², today’s recreational hunting is a system that serves neither species conservation nor modern wildlife management. It amounts to the pursuit of a bloody leisure pastime at the expense of sentient beings, legitimised by outdated narratives that do not withstand scientific scrutiny. The claim that the ecological balance would collapse without recreational hunting has been empirically disproven for over 50 years by the Geneva model (see the comprehensive dossier on the Geneva hunting ban on wildbeimwild.com).

Thurgau is a territorial hunting canton. Hunting grounds are leased by the municipalities to private hunting associations. The leaseholders pay a lease fee and hunt at their own expense as a leisure activity. Contrary to the widespread claim, the leaseholders do not assume responsibility for the hunting ground in an ecological sense, but act within the framework of cantonal kill quotas, which are primarily geared towards the interests of forestry and agriculture (see the Psychology of recreational hunting in the canton of Thurgau as well as the critical analysis of hunting training on wildbeimwild.com).

In parallel, more and more protected wild animal species are coming under pressure at federal level. Since February 2025, cantons have been able to authorise the killing of individual beavers that cause significant damage (Art. 9d JSV). The goosander is facing increasing pressure. Thurgau is a Lake Constance canton: Lake Constance and the Thur Valley are wetland areas of international importance for waterbirds. The species protection clause is of particular relevance here (see the analysis of hunting policy on wildbeimwild.com and the wolf policy on wildbeimwild.com).

The canton of Thurgau has the opportunity to send a clear signal here: not only in favour of professional wildlife protection instead of recreational hunting, but also for the consistent protection of threatened wild animal species at cantonal level.

2. The role model: canton of Geneva

On 19 May 1974, a good 70 percent of voters in the canton of Geneva voted to abolish militia-style recreational hunting. Before the ban, big game in the canton had been practically wiped out: red deer and wild boars had been absent for decades, and only a few dozen roe deer remained. Over 400 recreational hunters released large numbers of pheasants, grey partridges and hares for recreational hunting.

The experience since the recreational hunting ban has been unequivocal:

Biodiversity has increased markedly. The number of overwintering waterbirds has multiplied from a few hundred to around 30,000. This is the key argument for Thurgau: if abolishing recreational hunting at Lake Geneva multiplied waterbird numbers from a few hundred to 30,000, what potential does Lake Constance hold? Lake Constance is already one of the most important waterbird areas in Europe. Without recreational hunting, it could become even more significant.
Geneva is now home to the largest brown hare population and one of the last grey partridge populations in Switzerland. The roe deer population has settled at a healthy level, with an annual special kill by professional game wardens of just 20 to 36 animals.
The ban has been in force continuously for over 50 years. Geneva has never repealed it.
The total cost of professional wildlife management in Geneva amounts to around 1.2 million francs annually, split into approximately 600,000 francs for personnel (around three full-time positions, shared among roughly a dozen environmental officers), 250,000 francs for prevention, and 350,000 francs for damage compensation. This corresponds to around 2.40 francs per resident per year.

Geneva's fauna inspector Gottlieb Dändliker, responsible for wildlife management since 2001, describes the recreational hunting ban as the financially most favourable option for the canton. A detailed account can be found in the dossier «Geneva and the hunting ban» on wildbeimwild.com.

The efficiency of the Geneva model becomes clear in a direct comparison: a professional game warden in Geneva needs on average 8 hours and a maximum of 2 cartridges for a sanitary kill of a wild boar. A recreational hunter in the canton of Zurich needs 60 to 80 hours and up to 15 cartridges for the same task. The density of brown hares in Geneva is 17.7 animals per 100 hectares (the highest in Switzerland), whereas in the canton of Zurich it is only 1.0 per 100 hectares (cf. fact check by the Zurich Cantonal Council).

3. The concept: professional wildlife wardens instead of recreational hunting

The initiative does not replace recreational hunting with a vacuum, but with professional wildlife management based on the game warden model. This model is founded on the following principles:

Professional expertise instead of leisure pursuit. Professional wildlife managers act on a scientific basis, with biological training and within the framework of a cantonal service mandate. Their goal is to maintain healthy wildlife populations, not to maximise kill numbers. By contrast, recreational hunting, by its very nature, pursues the interest of securing its own raison d'être through high populations of huntable species (see the critical analysis of hunting training on wildbeimwild.com).

Last-resort principle. A kill is only permitted once all non-lethal measures have been exhausted. These include electric fences, deterrence, habitat design, relocation, taste repellents and structural protective measures. In Geneva, fruit trees are protected with netting to prevent roe deer and hares from gnawing the bark. For wild boars, the canton provides farmers with electric fences. This practice shows that coexistence is a matter of will, not technical feasibility.

Democratic oversight through a wildlife commission. The independent commission, composed of animal and nature conservation organisations, scientists and authorities, prevents political pressure from individual interest groups from diluting wildlife management. The initiative consistently enshrines this protective mechanism by constitutionally anchoring the approval requirement of the wildlife commission.

Natural self-regulation as a guiding principle. Experience from Geneva, from national parks and from numerous scientific Studies has proven: wildlife populations regulate themselves in most cases. Recreational hunting disrupts this natural process by destroying social structures, artificially increasing reproduction rates and altering migratory movements.

4. Why Thurgau?

The canton of Thurgau is particularly well suited to introducing professional wildlife protection for several reasons:

Lake Constance as a waterbird habitat of international importance. Lake Constance is one of the most important resting areas for migratory birds in Europe. On Lake Geneva, the abolition of recreational hunting multiplied the number of overwintering waterbirds from a few hundred to around 30,000. Lake Constance has the same potential. The species protection clause of the initiative specifically protects the goosander, which is under increasing pressure, as well as other waterbird species.

Central plateau topography. Thurgau is predominantly flat to hilly (central plateau); its highest elevations in the Hinterthurgau region remain below 1,000 metres. It has no alpine areas. The topography is directly comparable to Geneva. The argument that the Geneva model only works in an urban canton does not apply to Thurgau: Thurgau is rural in character and has a landscape structure similar to that of Geneva, including lakeshores, river courses and fruit-growing areas.

Fruit-growing canton. Thurgau is one of Switzerland's most important fruit-growing cantons. The coexistence of wild animals and fruit cultivation is one of the central challenges. Geneva has shown that this coexistence works better with professional wildlife management than with recreational hunting: fruit trees are protected with nets and protective grids, not through mass shooting.

4,000 signatures in 6 months. The collection period of 6 months is tight. However, with a population of just under 300,000, 4,000 signatures correspond to only around 1.3 percent of the population. Signatures can be collected efficiently in Frauenfeld, Kreuzlingen, Arbon, Amriswil and Weinfelden.

Beavers on the Thur and Sitter rivers.The beaver is documented along the Thur and its tributaries. Since February 2025, it may be killed throughout Switzerland upon cantonal request. The initiative protects the beaver within the canton (cf. wildbeimwild.com on predators).

The Lake Geneva–Lake Constance parallel as a communicative leitmotif.The parallel between Lake Geneva and Lake Constance is the strongest communicative argument for Thurgau: two large lakes, similar ecological significance, and at Lake Geneva the hunting ban has multiplied biodiversity. What works at Lake Geneva also works at Lake Constance.

5. On the first paragraph: professional wildlife protection

Paragraph 1: Ban on recreational hunting and expiry of lease agreements

The ban on territorial hunting by private individuals is the core of the initiative. It corresponds to the Geneva model. Cantonal competence in this matter is undisputed: the federal Hunting Act (JSG) expressly leaves the organisation of hunting operations to the cantons (Art. 3 para. 1 and 2 JSG). The three hunting systems of Switzerland (licence hunting, territorial hunting and state or administrative hunting) are of equal standing. The canton of Geneva has practised administrative hunting since 1974 in compliance with federal law. The addition «Existing hunting lease agreements will not be renewed» is specific to territorial-hunting cantons: it ensures that the transition to the new system proceeds in an orderly manner and that existing contractual obligations are respected.

Paragraph 2: Professional wildlife management

Instead of recreational hunters, professionally trained wildlife managers employed by the canton take over all tasks of wildlife care and, where necessary, population regulation. These specialists have a more comprehensive biological or wildlife-ecological education and act on a scientific basis and in the public interest. In Geneva, this system has proven itself for over 50 years.

Paragraph 3: Kill as a last resort

The central innovation compared to the current system: a kill is not the rule, but the exception. Passive measures take priority. In Geneva, an average of around 250 wild boars are killed annually by game wardens (according to FOEN hunting statistics), mainly young animals, with lead animals explicitly spared for ethical reasons and to preserve the social stability of the sounders.

Paragraph 4: Wildlife commission

The independent wildlife commission is modelled on Geneva's commission for the regulation of fauna (Commission consultative de régulation de la faune). It ensures that animal welfare and nature conservation organisations have a say in regulation decisions and prevents the government from approving exceptions on its own and under pressure from interest groups. The involvement of science ensures that decisions are evidence-based and do not rest on the hunting-ideological myths with which the recreational hunting lobby has legitimised its practice for decades.

Paragraph 5: Natural regulation and coexistence

This paragraph enshrines the guiding principle of professional wildlife protection in the constitution: nature largely regulates itself if humans do not intervene in population dynamics through mass killing. In Thurgau, the promotion of coexistence includes in particular the securing and networking of wildlife corridors along the Thur river and the shore of Lake Constance, the ecological enhancement of wetlands and orchards, and the education of the public on how to behave towards wild animals.

Paragraph 6: Compensation for municipalities

This paragraph is specific to cantons with territorial hunting. The municipalities in Thurgau that currently lease out hunting grounds receive lease income. The loss of this income will be appropriately compensated during a five-year transition period. The lease income per municipality is generally modest, typically amounting to a few thousand francs a year. In relation to municipal budgets, the amount is marginal.

Transitional provisions

The two-year deadline gives the cantonal government sufficient time to draft the implementing legislation, hire professional wildlife managers and constitute the wildlife commission. The five-year sunset clause for existing hunting lease agreements respects the legitimate expectations of the leaseholders. The existing hunting and fisheries office can serve as the institutional basis.

6. On the second paragraph: Protection of endangered and protected wildlife species

The second paragraph is especially relevant for Thurgau. Lake Constance and the Thur valley are waterbird habitats of international importance. The goosander, a species protected under federal law, is under growing political pressure. The beaver has been documented on the Thur river and its tributaries and may be killed since February 2025. The species protection paragraph enshrines the renunciation of regulation applications in the constitution.

The “insbesondere” (“in particular”) wording is designed as a dynamic reference to federal law. It ensures that cantonal protection automatically also applies to species that the federal legislator places under protection or on a regulation list in future, without the need for a constitutional amendment (see the analysis of wolf policy on wildbeimwild.com).

7. Cost implications: a concrete budget for Thurgau

The Geneva reference budget

In Geneva, which at 282 km² is around three and a half times smaller than Thurgau and has around 500,000 inhabitants, the total costs of professional wildlife management amount to around 1.2 million francs annually: around 600,000 francs for personnel, around 250,000 francs for prevention and around 350,000 francs for compensation payments.

Projection for Thurgau

For Thurgau, with an area of 991 km² and just under 300,000 inhabitants, the following realistic cost estimate results:

Personnel costs: 480,000 to 700,000 francs annually. This requires 4 to 5 full-time positions for professional wildlife managers. A full-time position in cantonal service costs around 120,000 to 140,000 francs annually, including social security contributions and additional employer costs. Thurgau is around three and a half times larger than Geneva, but topographically simpler (lowlands, no Alps).

Material costs: 100,000 to 150,000 francs annually. This includes equipment, vehicles, deterrent devices, monitoring infrastructure (camera traps, GPS transmitters), structural protective measures, electric fences and public relations work.

Compensation payments: 80,000 to 150,000 francs annually. Mainly wild boar damage in agriculture, browsing damage in fruit growing and beaver damage to waterways.

Total costs: 660,000 to 1,000,000 francs annually (gross). This corresponds to around 2.20 to 3.40 francs per inhabitant per year.

Savings

These costs are offset by savings: the canton no longer needs to administer hunting lease agreements, conduct hunting examinations, draw up kill quotas or organise hunting supervision. The resources currently entrusted with these tasks within the hunting and fisheries office can be partly reallocated.

Lost revenue

With the abolition of recreational hunting, the lease income from territorial hunting – estimated at 300,000 to 500,000 francs annually – currently flowing to the municipalities of Thurgau would be lost. This amount is marginal within the overall cantonal budget (cf. dossier on the Geneva hunting ban on wildbeimwild.com).

8. On the Initiative Process in the Canton of Thurgau

In the Canton of Thurgau, a popular initiative at the constitutional level requires the collection of 4,000 signatures within 6 months of publication in the official gazette (§ 26 para. 1 and 2 KV TG). The request may be submitted as a fully drafted proposal (§ 26 para. 3 KV TG). Each signature list must also contain a withdrawal clause (§ 71 para. 2 no. 6 StWG). The initiative is then put to a vote before the Grand Council and the people.

The 4,000 signatures can be collected in Frauenfeld, Kreuzlingen, Arbon, Amriswil and Weinfelden. These are the five largest towns in the Canton of Thurgau. With a professional collection system, this is achievable.

9. Strategic Embedding

The Thurgau initiative is part of a national strategy: popular initiatives for professional wildlife protection are being launched in coordination across several cantons. Coordinated measures at national level create synergies in argumentation, media work and political positioning. Thurgau is well suited as a pilot canton for the Lake Constance region.

10. Next Steps

This document is a template text by IG Wild beim Wild. It may be freely used by activists, organisations or initiative committees and adapted to the circumstances in the Canton of Thurgau.

The next step is the formation of an initiative committee in the Canton of Thurgau, consisting of people from various municipalities of the canton, including eligible voters from Thurgau. The committee ensures the initiative has a sponsoring body and grants it political legitimacy.

The legal basis, political argumentation, communicative framework and budget have been laid out in this document. The initiative committee can begin implementation directly.

Cantonal Popular Initiatives: Other Cantons

This document is a template text by IG Wild beim Wild. It may be freely used by activists, organisations or initiative committees and adapted to the circumstances in the Canton of Thurgau.

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