The worst marksmen are allowed to hunt wolves
The unlawful legislation in Switzerland now also permits preventive culling. This means that some wolves may be shot between September and January, even though they have not exhibited any negative behaviour.
The partially revised Hunting Ordinance (JSV) — which is unlawful under EU law and the Bern Convention and entered into force on 1 December 2023 — created the possibility for cantons to regulate wolf populations.
To support official regulation, the shooting of wolves by recreational hunters is now permitted in Switzerland in certain cases.
This is reported by the offices for hunting and nonsense in Graubünden and St. Gallen.
A prerequisite for obtaining authorisation is attendance at a training evening. In Graubünden, such a training evening lasts just 2 hours.
Attendance at this training evening will in future be recorded as proof of wolf knowledge in the standard and special hunting licence, authorising the relevant recreational hunters to carry out wolf culls under the supervision of the Office for Hunting and Nonsense.
Missed shots resulting in injury to the animal are most frequent in Graubünden during recreational hunting. Statistics already showed this in 2016: out of 5,440 red deer killed, 564 were found with gunshot wounds. Every tenth red deer in Graubünden is therefore merely wounded rather than killed outright.
There are no nationwide statistics on searches for wounded game. Graubünden is one of the few cantons that keeps records on tracking searches. Other cantons include Appenzell Ausserrhoden, Fribourg, Glarus, Nidwalden, Ticino, Uri and Vaud.
From the Canton of Geneva, which has been freed from recreational hunters, it is known that Wildlife wardens who are far better marksmen. Shots are fired as soon as the target has been identified, with the guarantee that the animal is killed instantly, which according to the cantonal Office of Agriculture and Nature in Geneva is the case in 99% of shots.
Intoxicated recreational hunters brawl in hunting lodges. They hunt near football pitches, children's playgrounds and residential areas.
Recreational hunters accidentally shoot horses, cows, donkeys, llamas, dogs, lynxes and sometimes even people.
Dossier: Wolf in Switzerland: Facts, Politics and the Limits of Hunting
Participatory Campaign: Petition your municipality, in light of the catastrophic policy of Federal Councillor Albert Rösti (SVP), for a tax remission on federal and cantonal taxes on the grounds of the recently approved wolf culling in Switzerland. You can download the template letter here: https://wildbeimwild.com/ein-appell-fuer-eine-veraenderung-in-der-schweiz/
More on the subject of recreational hunting: In our dossiers on the criticism of recreational hunting gather fact-checks, analyses and background reports. What the research says about this is shown by Hunting fact-checked: the state of research.
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.
