Ticino hobby hunter convicted of poaching: silencer, night vision device, and illegal bait traps

In Ticino, a 68-year-old hobby hunter from the Mendrisiotto district was convicted by the court in Mendrisio for shooting a female wild boar sow weighing approximately 40 kilograms in the forests of Meride roughly two hours before the official opening of the high hunting season in 2024.

Judge Elettra Orsetta Bernasconi Matti classified the guilt as severe. The Ticino game wardens, who had been monitoring the man for some time, described him as more of a poacher than a hobby hunter.

High-tech poaching instead of recreational hunting

What the game wardens found during the inspection reads like the inventory of a professional poacher: The carbine rifle used had an illegally shortened barrel, was equipped with a homemade silencer, and featured a thermal night vision device. The man was also carrying an additional weapon and unauthorized equipment. In his hunting cabin in Meride, the authorities discovered an automatic feeder and a salt lick, which he had systematically used to lure wildlife.

«Serious, concurrent, and deliberate offenses»

The cantonal Office for Hunting and Fisheries left no doubt about the severity of the case. The authority spoke of a series of serious, concurrent, and deliberate offenses. In fact, this is not a trivial offense or an isolated lapse: the man had built a complete illegal infrastructure to systematically lure wildlife, kill them outside permitted hours and with prohibited equipment, and remain undetected in the process.

The verdict: 40 daily penalty units at 90 francs each, suspended for a probationary period of two years, a fine of 400 francs, a payment of the same amount to the cantonal wildlife fund, and the revocation of the hunting license for three years. Additionally, the 68-year-old was convicted for purchasing and importing a prohibited laser pointer in 2025. His explanation that the device was intended for his cats was deemed not credible by the court.

Symptom of a structural problem

The case from Ticino is not an isolated incident. It stands as a prime example of a fundamental problem with hobby hunting in Switzerland: The oversight of armed hobby hunters in the field is structurally inadequate. Game wardens are chronically understaffed, the hunting districts are vast, and the hunting seasons are long. Anyone who equips themselves with silencers, night vision devices, and bait traps deliberately counts on not being monitored. The fact that this man had been "under surveillance for some time" and was still able to operate a complete poaching infrastructure unimpeded reveals the limits of the system.

A three-year license revocation may sound like a significant penalty at first glance. But measured against the extent of the offenses, this verdict is lenient. In a system that organizes access to weapons and wildlife as a recreational pastime, effective deterrence mechanisms are sorely lacking. As long as the hobby hunting lobby successfully blocks every initiative for stricter controls and harsher penalties, cases like these will not remain the exception.

Wildlife deserves better protection

Swiss hunting law is in urgent need of reform. Anyone who kills wildlife with illegal equipment and deliberate planning should not be punished with suspended fines, but with a permanent weapons ban and the definitive loss of hunting privileges. The wild boar sow of Meride had no chance. She was lured into a trap with technical precision and killed before the season had even begun. That is not hunting ethics, that is organized animal cruelty.

Source: Ticinonline / Corriere del Ticino, April 1, 2026