Why are foxes hunted in Switzerland?

Both arguments do not withstand scientific scrutiny.

Nevertheless, around 20,000 to 22,000 red foxes are shot annually in Switzerland. This article explains why fox hunting as a wildlife management tool is largely ineffective and what alternatives exist.

How many foxes are killed annually in Switzerland?

According to the Federal Hunting Statistics, approximately 20,000 to 22,000 red foxes are killed annually through recreational hunting. In Canton Bern alone, around 3,180 foxes were shot in 2024. For comparison: the estimated total population of red foxes in Switzerland ranges from approximately 40,000 to 60,000 individuals, depending on the season and region. This means that annually a substantial portion of the population is killed through recreational hunting.

In addition, around 7,000 foxes die annually in road traffic. However, the fox population compensates for this high mortality through an increased reproduction rate: the more intensively foxes are hunted, the earlier and more frequently they reproduce. This effect is known as compensatory reproduction and is well documented scientifically.

The Fox Tapeworm Argument: What's True and What Isn't?

The fox tapeworm (Echinococcus multilocularis) is a real parasite that can cause dangerous alveolar echinococcosis in humans. It exists in Switzerland. These are the facts. However, the hunting lobby's conclusion – that fox hunting contains the spread of fox tapeworm – is not scientifically sustainable.

Population decimation does not lead to disease prevention: Studies show that the prevalence of fox tapeworm in fox populations does not decrease significantly when the population is intensively hunted. On the contrary: due to increased reproductive pressure, hunted populations are often younger – and young foxes have a higher infection rate. As soon as a fox territory is thinned out by shooting, foxes migrate in from adjacent areas.

The success story in the fox tapeworm discussion is not hunting, but oral vaccination. The Switzerland-wide rabies vaccination of foxes using distributed baits has practically eliminated rabies in Switzerland – without a single shot. Switzerland's rabies vaccination program, which ran from 1978 into the 2000s, is one of the most successful examples of non-lethal wildlife management in Europe. It demonstrates that the disease prevention argument for hunting simply doesn't apply – vaccination is more effective. More on wildlife diseases and hunting in the Dossier on Hunting and Wildlife Diseases.

The Ground-Nesting Birds Argument: Fact Check

The second main argument for fox hunting is the «protection of ground-nesting birds» such as partridges, skylarks, lapwings and other bird species that nest on the ground. The scientific evidence on this is clear: the decline of ground-nesting birds in Switzerland and throughout Europe is primarily due to habitat loss and intensive agriculture – not to the fox.

Pesticides destroy the insects that ground-nesting birds feed their chicks on. Monocultures eliminate the diversity of field margins, hedgerows and fallow land that ground-nesting birds need as nesting sites. Early mowing schedules in industrial agriculture directly destroy clutches. SRF reported explicitly in 2024 that fox hunting is «not effective for regulation». Studies from Germany, Britain and France demonstrate that intensive fox hunting in areas with good habitats barely influences ground-nesting bird populations, while habitat improvements lead to significant population recoveries.

The partridge example is particularly illustrative: In Switzerland, the partridge is almost extinct – not because of foxes, but because of intensive agriculture. Our Dossier on the Partridge documents this extensively.

Compensatory Reproduction: Why Fox Hunting Doesn't Reduce the Population

A central population biology concept that is often ignored in the hunting debate is compensatory reproduction. Foxes adapt their reproduction rate to the mortality rate: in intensively hunted areas, vixens give birth earlier and to more numerous young. Litter sizes are larger when the population has been severely decimated. Neighboring groups migrate into the resulting gaps.

The result: Even when 20,000 to 22,000 foxes are shot annually in Switzerland, the population recovers within a few months. Long-term population reductions through hunting are only possible with foxes through extremely intensive and comprehensive hunting – and even then only temporarily. This is proven by studies from the University of Bern and international population biologists.

In short: Fox hunting in Switzerland annually kills tens of thousands of animals without sustainably reducing the fox population, without effectively containing diseases, and without effectively protecting ground-nesting birds. It is primarily a recreational activity – supported by myths. More on these myths in the Dossier on Hunting Myths.

Luxembourg as Comparison: What Happens Without Fox Hunting?

Luxembourg banned fox hunting in 2015. What followed? Contrary to the hunting lobby's fears, fox populations did not explode. Fox tapeworm prevalence did not increase dramatically. And the condition of ground-nesting birds did not measurably deteriorate due to the hunting ban.

The Luxembourg example is internationally significant because it represents the first long-term experiment in a Central European country with a complete fox hunting ban. The specialist authorities in Luxembourg and international observers concluded that the fox population regulates itself – through intraspecific competition, resource availability and natural mortality. Switzerland could learn from this model.

Badger hunting for foxes: Particularly controversial method

A particularly problematic form of fox hunting is badger hunting, where hunting dogs are sent into underground fox dens to drive the fox out. This method is already banned or severely restricted in several cantons: Zurich (banned since 2023), Bern (largely banned since 2024), Vaud (banned since 2021) and Thurgau (severely restricted since 2017).

The Swiss Animal Protection STS has established in a legal opinion that badger hunting can constitute animal cruelty under animal protection law. For hunting dogs, badger hunting means considerable risk of injury and traumatic stress. More on this in the Dossier on badger hunting.

Fox as part of the ecosystem

The red fox is an important component of the Swiss ecosystem. It regulates mouse populations – a function that is particularly important for agriculture. A single fox can eat several thousand voles per year. Without foxes, mouse populations would explode and cause significant damage in fields and meadows. Foxes are also seed dispersers: they eat fruits and excrete the seeds in other locations, contributing to the spread of certain plant species.

What JagdSchweiz says – and what science says

JagdSchweiz, the umbrella organization of Swiss hobby hunters, maintains fox hunting as 'necessary regulation'. In association publications, the arguments of fox tapeworm and ground-nesting bird protection are repeated – despite contrary scientific evidence. This is a classic pattern of the hunting lobby: myths are presented as facts to legitimize a recreational activity that would be difficult to defend without this justification.

Independent scientists, veterinary offices and animal protection organizations reach different conclusions. Our Dossier on hunting myths and the Fact check on the JagdSchweiz brochure provide the details.

Conclusion: Fox hunting is primarily a recreational activity

Annually 20,000 to 22,000 foxes killed in Switzerland – without effect on fox tapeworm prevalence, without proven benefit for ground-nesting birds, without sustainable reduction of the fox population. Fox hunting is the best example of how a recreational activity is legitimized in Switzerland through scientifically untenable myths. The Luxembourg model shows: it works without it. And the rabies vaccination program shows that effective disease prevention works without shooting.

Further content on wildbeimwild.com:

• Dossier: Badger hunting
• Dossier: Hunting myths – what hobby hunters claim and what science says
• Dossier: Hunting and wildlife diseases
• Dossier: The fox in Switzerland
• Dossier: Fact check JagdSchweiz brochure

More background on current hunting policy in Switzerland can be found in our Dossier on wildbeimwild.com.