Partial revision of the hunting law: Wolf supporters and opponents alike raise criticism

The partial revision of the hunting law, which is intended to relax the protection of wolves among other things, is being criticised from all sides.

Environmental organisations and the left reject the partial revision of the hunting law outright, while the SVP, wolf opponents, and farmers feel it does not go far enough.

In the partial revision, the Federal Council proposes, among other things, that the population of certain protected wild animals may be reduced if they cause significant damage, endanger people, or threaten biodiversity. The law itself names only the ibex by name, and now also the wolf. Other animals such as the mute swan, the lynx, or the beaver could be added to the list by ordinance.

Both the SP and the environmental organisations Pro Natura, WWF, and BirdLife Switzerland do not fundamentally oppose the reduction of wolf packs when certain individuals cause problems. However, a viable wolf population must be maintained.

The legislative proposal of the partial revision of the hunting law does not meet this requirement, the environmental organisations criticise in their response to the consultation, which closed on Wednesday. Because the Federal Council wants to permit not only the shooting of individual protected animals, but the reduction of entire populations, intervention could be permitted even at the current population of approximately 40 wolves.

This means the long-term survival of wolves in Switzerland is not guaranteed. There is also a risk of re-extinction for other protected species that may be «regulated» in the future. The planned culling regimes are «neither scientifically justifiable nor fit for purpose». For the Swiss Animal Protection organisation, the draft is even «a capitulation to hunters and sheep farmers».

Remove wolf from the list

The SVP, the Swiss Farmers' Union (SBV), the canton of Valais, and the association Lebensraum Schweiz ohne Grossraubtiere (VLSoGRT) take a very different view. They would like to remove the wolf entirely from the list of endangered species and allow it to be hunted like roe deer, chamois, or red deer.

Large predators have no place in a densely populated country, the SVP writes. It therefore demands that the wolf's protected status be lifted, even if Switzerland would have to withdraw from the Bern Convention on the Conservation of European Wildlife and Natural Habitats in order to do so.

A cantonal initiative from Valais demanding that the wolf no longer be classified as a strictly protected species was adopted by the National Council in September and is currently before the Council of States. In its consultation response, the canton of Valais argues that the wolf will only learn to keep away from people, settlements, and livestock if it can be hunted.

«Unequal treatment»

The Federal Council receives broad support from the FDP, the BDP, and the association JagdSchweiz. The proposal meets the conditions for better coexistence between wolves and the mountain population, and is compatible with international agreements, according to the FDP.

However, it is incomprehensible why, alongside the ibex, only the wolf population should be regulated at the legislative level. This perpetuates «an rather arbitrary unequal treatment among protected species», the FDP states.

JagdSchweiz therefore wishes — like the Farmers' Union and the canton of Valais — to also include the mute swan, wild geese, lynx, and beaver in the legislation, «because these species either already cause damage or will cause damage in the foreseeable future.»

Shifting of culling authority

The right wing welcomes the expansion of cantonal powers in regulating the wolf population. Currently, the Federal Office for the Environment (FOEN) must approve any culling. Under the partial revision, the decision on whether protected animals may be killed would rest with the cantons. Proof of actual damage would no longer be required.

According to the SP and environmental organizations, however, this very point harbors many dangers: The federal government must not, «hunder pressure from extreme circles», leave its constitutionally enshrined duty to protect wild native animals to the cantons, writes the SP. Otherwise, it would no longer be able to adequately fulfill its responsibilities. The environmental organizations even fear «a mutual escalation by trigger-happy cantonal governments.»

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

Interest Group Wild beim Wild

The IG Wild beim Wild is a non-profit interest group committed to the sustainable and non-violent improvement of the human-animal relationship, with a particular specialization in the legal aspects of wildlife protection. One of our main concerns is to introduce a contemporary and professional wildlife management system in the cultural landscape, modeled on the Canton of Geneva — without hobby hunters, but with upright game wardens who truly deserve the title and act according to a code of ethics. The monopoly on the use of force belongs in the hands of the state. The IG supports scientific methods of immunocontraception for wildlife.