Ticino: Wolf in the Rovana Valley Cleared for Shooting
In Ticino, a wolf in the Rovana Valley has been cleared for shooting. The permit is controversial and is being criticised by animal welfare organisations.
Following several sheep kills and a protest by farmers, the Ticino government has approved the shooting of the wolf in the Rovana Valley.
The shooting permit is valid for 60 days, according to the communiqué sent out on Wednesday. Enforcement will be handed over to the game wardens of the Office for Hunting and Fishing.
Not only for the wolves, but also for species conservationists, a race against time has now begun. WWF Ticino announced that “it will analyse the exact facts of the case” and on its part “within the next week” will make a decision. From an animal rights perspective, the risk is that the wolf will be killed during any potential court proceedings. It has happened on more than one occasion in the past that a legal victory was secured only after the predator had already been killed.
In its letter, the cantonal government reminds readers that the wolf is a protected species. However, federal law permits the shooting of individual wolves that cause «considerable damage» to livestock. The Hunting Ordinance makes a culling order contingent on exceeding a certain number of kills — in this case ten.
Killed animals were «not protectable»
The animals killed in the Rovana Valley do not, however, meet the definition of «sheep killed by predators», the cantonal government continues. The reason: to be classified as a «predator kill», the animal must be protected from wolf attacks by electric fences and guard dogs.
These protective measures were allegedly neither technically feasible nor economically viable in Cerentino in the Rovana Valley, due to the steep slopes, terracing, extreme fragmentation and dispersal of the land, and the small size of the plots.
The 19 sheep that fell victim to the wolf on 26 April were classified as «not protectable» and could therefore be counted toward the kill quota, the cantonal government concludes.
At the end of April, farmers from the Maggiatal district had placed several dead sheep in front of the government building in Bellinzona. They were responding to a wolf kill in Cerentino and demanded more effective measures from the government in the fight against the wolf.
Several sheep had already been killed in the Rovana Valley at the end of March. In mid-April, a wolf killed 13 animals in the southern Ticino near Novazzano.
