Wolf cull: WWF files complaint

The planned killing of two young Calanda wolves has legal consequences.

Editorial team Wild beim Wild — 7 January 2016

The environmental organisation WWF Switzerland wants to prevent the culling of wolves in future through preventive measures.

It has filed complaints with the administrative courts of the cantons of St. Gallen and Graubünden.

Pro Natura is taking a different approach: the organisation is refraining from filing complaints, but intends to continue advocating for a measured wolf policy in the political arena. The culling permit for two young wolves from the Calanda pack, approved by the Federal Office for the Environment (FOEN), is valid until the end of March.

Both environmental organisations conclude that the current legal framework is insufficient to prevent imminent cullings. Pro Natura writes that the shooting conditions newly set out in the Hunting Ordinance are so broadly worded that they place virtually no constraints on the authorities in their application. Adding to this, complaints are being preemptively stripped of their suspensive effect.

Pro Natura therefore intends to advocate through political channels for a comprehensive wolf management approach that does not rely predominantly on culling, but also highlights the positive aspects of the wolf's return. The WWF criticizes that the culling permit for the two young Calanda pack wolves already portrays normal wolf behavior as a potential threat.

Instead of shooting the wolves, so-called “low-shy” wolves should be fitted with a transmitter. This unpleasant experience for the wolves would be a more effective deterrent measure and would also serve to improve monitoring.

Above all, however, food sources would need to be consistently eliminated. For until the culling permit was issued, the handling of food sources in the wolf territory had been negligent. “In effect, the wolves were being actively fed. This must be prevented in future without fail,” WWF predator expert Gabor von Bethlenfalvy is quoted as saying.

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