Wolves killed in traffic in Graubünden

The as yet unidentified wolf was struck and killed by a car on the main road in Tamins.

The wolf, a male, died instantly after the collision with a passenger vehicle, said Graubünden hunting inspector Adrian Arquint. Arquint suspects the wolf may have belonged to the Calanda pack. Investigations to establish the animal's identity have been initiated.

Heavily trafficked road section

The at times heavily trafficked road section in the direction of Flims, which proved fatal for the wolf, is also frequently crossed by red deer and roe deer searching for food at lower elevations. These animals are also involved in accidents relatively often, even though a system warns road users of wildlife in that area.

Roads represent both an obstacle and a danger for wildlife, stressed the Graubünden hunting inspector, who estimates the current number of wolves in Graubünden at 30. The wolf killed on Sunday is already the fourth to have paid with its life while crossing a road in the mountain canton this year.

Two more wolves run over over Christmas

During the night of 26 to 27 December, two wolves were run over in the Surselva region. Near Brigels, a young female wolf had not survived a collision with a train. Between Trin and Tamins, another female wolf was struck by a car and killed.

The young female wolf from this year's litter, which was run over by a train near Brigels at around 11:00 p.m., most likely belonged to the Valgronda pack. This pack is native to the region between Ilanz, the Val Sumvitg and the Val Lumnezia, and had offspring for the first time this year.

The second female wolf, which was hit by a vehicle on the same night, is probably a female from last year's Calanda pack. The collision was reported immediately. Since only a few hairs could be found at the accident site, the wildlife wardens had to conduct a search. The animal was found dead. Both wolves are now being transferred to the Centre for Fish and Wildlife Medicine at the University of Bern for precise identification.

A total of six wolves killed in road accidents

The last wolf to be killed on a road in Graubünden was hit by a car two weeks ago near Tamins in the returning flow of winter sports traffic. It was the fourth wolf in Graubünden to pay with its life for attempting to cross a road. This brings the total number of wolves killed in road accidents in the mountain canton this year to six.

In the canton of Graubünden, several hundred wild animals die in accidents every year. Last year, the cantonal police statistics recorded 865 wildlife accidents — in each of the two preceding years, it was nearly 900 animals killed in accidents.