Two Recreational Hunters in the Jura Convicted of Hunting Offences
Two recreational hunters were convicted in the canton of Jura for hunting offences. The cases highlight the lack of oversight in recreational hunting in Switzerland.
Illegal Spotlight Hunting in the Ajoie
A recreational hunter from the Ajoie region was caught shining a spotlight into the countryside to hunt wildlife — a practice that is strictly prohibited under hunting law.
The deliberate search for game in or at the edge of a forest using a powerful light source earned the defendant a suspended sentence of ten daily penalty units for a period of two years. This is all the more significant given that on another occasion he was found carrying hunting equipment that was being transported without authorisation.
As Le Quotidien Jurassien reports, a road user does not commit an offence if a deer or wild boar runs into the headlights of their car or bicycle, but wildlife should above all be left undisturbed at night as much as possible. The use of artificial lighting is reserved for counts conducted by the environmental authority, such as hare population surveys. Wildlife inspector Amaury Boillat emphasises the importance of undisturbed rest for wild animals.
Shotgun Fired at a Coypu Without a Hunting Permit
Another recreational hunter from the canton of Jura was convicted after firing a shotgun at a coypu. When stopped by a game warden at a watercourse, he claimed to be hunting nutria, a species whose presence delays the return of the beaver.
Nutria and muskrats are unwanted species that are shot by game wardens and rarely by recreational hunters, but the perpetrator did not hold a hunting permit. He received a suspended fine of 40 daily penalty units for two years, as well as a fine of 650 francs and costs. Both cases illustrate the Crime in the context of recreational hunting and the need for stronger oversight by the hunting authorities.
More on the subject of recreational hunting: In the dossier Poaching and hunting crime in Switzerland we document cases, legal questions and recurring patterns. 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.
