Environmental organisations criticise new herd protection measures

Cantons to decide on funding

The new ordinance would no longer provide uniform national funding for herd protection measures, the environmental organisations BirdLife, Gruppe Wolf Schweiz, Pro Natura and WWF announced at a press conference.

They criticise the fact that cantons would now decide which measures are funded and at what level. This would lead to confusion among livestock owners, differing contribution rates for measures, and potential herd protection tourism, as dogs could potentially be registered with colleagues in a neighbouring canton where higher contributions are available.

Cantons with more wolves would be favoured in the distribution of funds, it was further stated. Reduced services for livestock owners in cantons with low wolf presence would hinder preventive herd protection. This would set Switzerland back to the period before 2014, when herd protection funding was only available in areas with wolf presence.

Inadequate consultations and assessments

Herd protection consultations would also only be available for alpine farms and no longer for farms in agricultural zones, the environmental organisations stated. This would disadvantage actors without prior knowledge of wolves and herd protection.

A further point of criticism is the no longer mandatory rigorous federal assessment of livestock guardian dogs. Simpler cantonal assessments would now be possible. The absence of contributions for breeding and training would increasingly lead to the use of unknown breeds. This would raise the risk of incidents while barely improving protective effectiveness, thereby jeopardising the acceptance of livestock guardian dogs.

Significant untapped potential

Environmental organizations see great and untapped potential particularly in livestock protection. According to them, four out of five sheep alpine pastures still have no livestock guardian dogs. The majority of kills by wolves occur in completely unprotected herds.

Kills despite livestock guardian dogs occur in situations of inadequate herd management, where the herds are spread over too large an area.

The partial revision of the ordinance on hunting and the protection of wild mammals and birds is in ordinary public consultation until July 5. The ordinance is set to come into force on February 1, 2025.

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