The Disappointing Book Presentation by Marcel Züger
Book presentation «Mensch, Wolf» – or: When the highlight is the finger food.
«Hunter's Tales»
Great ambitions had been set: The presentation of the book «Mensch, Wolf» by cactus biologist Marcel Züger was meant to be a grand occasion.
What did it turn out to be? More of a lukewarm Friday evening with the feel of mulled wine – only without the mulled wine.
Around 35 people wandered into the lecture hall of Somedia AG – among them roughly 15 wolf advocates, critics and other curious onlookers. The remaining seats stayed empty, much like many of the expectations that followed.
After a ritual round of flattery from the publishing house (understandably – what else were they going to say: “Sorry, that was a misstep”?), two speeches from the “political elite” followed. Council of States member Stefan Engler did his best to lull the audience with well-worn platitudes straight from the mothballed arsenal of wolf criticism. But what came next would have baffled even Kafka: The Landammann from Appenzell Innerrhoden recounted a childhood trauma involving Little Red Riding Hood – whether this was therapeutic for him or traumatic for the audience remains an open question.
Particularly striking: A young person fled in a panic, a cloth held over their mouth. Whether it was the content or the air quality in the room, this could unfortunately not be determined afterwards. One can hardly blame them.
Gradually, a number of wolf opponents from the Surselva also left the hall – apparently the intellectual nourishment on offer was of a rather sectarian nature for all involved.
Then, finally, the “highlight” of the evening: Marcel Züger himself. The man who, by his own account, oscillates between botany and wildlife biology, stepped into the subject somewhat red-faced – and then, as is his habit, got stuck on his favourite topics: dangerous livestock protection fences, the wicked wolf and, remarkably, the wolf’s “tail” – rendered in archaic terminology. Zoologically accurate? No. But who needs expertise when you have opinions?
The promised question-and-answer session was cut short with a casual "Tonight is not the evening for polemical questions". One might call that prevention against uncontrolled thought processes.
During the aperitif, a representative of the wolf protection groups attempted to start a conversation. Züger smiled, said "in a moment", disappeared — and remained gone. Presumably the tail-wagging topic had been exhaustively covered as well.
Conclusion: An event typical of a recreational hunters' gathering, whose substantive depth was more apparent at the buffet. On the bright side: the potato chips were crispy.
Those who prefer facts over opinion are recommended to listen to the wolf podcast.
https://der-wolfspodcast.podigee.io/60-neue-episode/embed?context=website
or the fact sheets for the book «Mensch Wolf» by Marcel Züger.
Further articles
- Swiss meadows are losing biodiversity at an alarming rate
- When sheep, cattle and others occupy wildlife habitat
- Swiss animal protection organization criticizes planned wolf culls as a threat to pack structures and livestock protection
- In Graubünden, wolf incompetence runs rampant
- Val Fex: When the livestock protection concept has more holes than the fence
- Culling instead of protection — Switzerland on the path to silent wolf extermination
- Communication failure at the Office for Hunting and Fishing Graubünden
- Illegal wolf hunting in Switzerland
- Wolf cubs in Switzerland under crossfire
- Switzerland sells wolf massacre as success
- Sloppy work in the office of Katrin Schneeberger
- Livestock grazing alters the soil, plants and insect populations
- The insane hunt for wolves in Switzerland
- The truth about sheep mortality in Switzerland: causes and statistics
- Wolf culls in Switzerland: concerns over party politician Albert Rösti
- Let us stop the SVP's destructive rage
- Participation campaign: An appeal for change in Switzerland
- 200 environmental organizations from 6 continents call on the Swiss government: Stop the wolf cull
- Federal Council comes under heavy criticism from wolf experts
- The consequences of controversial wolf management in Switzerland
- Wolf: Federal Councillor Rösti (SVP) circumvents law and order
- Es Burebüebli mahn i nit
- Are BAFU and the hunting administrations still operating rigorously?
- Federal Councillor Albert Rösti tramples on the will of the people
- The consequences of controversial wolf management in Switzerland
- Too many sheep are harming biodiversity
- Agricultural use destroys alpine meadows
- Livestock losses despite herd protection — how is that possible?
- The rotten apple in the St. Gallen hunting administration
- Pro Natura calls for a comprehensive strategy for summer sheep grazing
- According to Agridea study, herd protection with dogs works well
- Thanks to herd protection, wolves in Switzerland kill fewer livestock
- Farmers treat fields as disposal sites
- Biomass of wildlife
- Of sheep farmers and vague authorities
- The double standards of wolf opponents
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.
