Valais: Greens criticize return to medieval hunting

The Valais cantonal parliament has increased the pressure on the wolf. The Grand Council approved a postulate that would allow all hunters to participate in an authorized wolf cull.

Last year, the canton had issued permits for the culling of two wolves in the Val d’Anniviers and in the Goms. No animal could be shot within the allotted timeframe.

The postulate's authors Gregory Logean (SVP) and Alex Schwestermann (CVP) are of the opinion that the chances of shooting an animal must be increased. They therefore demand that all hunters be given the opportunity to hunt the wolf — not only during the main hunting season, but throughout the entire period of validity of the culling permit.

The left-wing opposition stood no chance in parliament. The postulate was completely out of touch with reality and counterproductive, said Emmanuel Revaz (Greens).

Multiplying the number of hunters does not increase the chance of a cull — on the contrary, the animal will quickly leave the territory.

Emmanuel Revaz

The Green politician also criticized a “return to medieval hunting”, which he described as the worst possible advertisement for hunters. His arguments had no effect on the council. In the end, the parliamentarians approved the postulate with 77 votes to 39, with 4 abstentions.

Group Wolf Switzerland

Following the publication of the 2018 Valais wolf monitoring report and the media coverage surrounding it, those responsible at Wolf Switzerland have now also spoken out. Although the report presents the facts objectively, “various pieces of information were misrepresented and distorted” in the media. There is neither a new wolf pack nor a doubling of the number of wolves in Valais. The known pack has been confirmed once again and the number of wolves remains stable.

«Politics, too, is failing to distinguish itself with objectivity”, reads the statement continued. The postulate referred by the Valais Grand Council regarding the involvement of hunters in authorized wolf culls will have no consequences, as the most recent wolf culls did not fail due to a lack of hunters. Surrounding the presence of wolves in the canton of Valais, unfounded and distorted statements are repeatedly made, including in politics and the media.

Valais Grand Council shows no mercy for marmots

In Zermatt VS, marmots have become so numerous that they have turned into a veritable pest. Last autumn, hunters were therefore required to shoot dozens of the rodents. On Tuesday, the cantonal parliament rejected a postulate calling for mercy for the "Murmeli."

170 marmots were taken by hunters on the orders of the cantonal hunting authority. But the measure stirred the emotions of tourists and prompted several Valais parliamentarians to act. The Valais Grand Council, however, was not swayed. It rejected the postulate clearly, by 85 votes to 29, with 6 abstentions.

The postulants had proposed that the marmots be sedated, captured, and relocated elsewhere rather than killed. "These are not pretty images for tourism," said Michaël Graber (SVP), one of the postulants.

Many parliamentarians considered the measures proposed in the postulate to be disproportionate. «Marmots don’t thrive just anywhere,» noted Urban Furrer (CVP). Furthermore, the burrows and tunnels dug by the rodents, which are difficult to spot on pastures, pose a danger to farmers and livestock. There have already been accidents, warned Franziska Biner (CVP).

Dossier: Wolf in Switzerland: Facts, Politics, and the Limits of Hunting