Study: Wolf packs are good for Swiss forests

As in many places in Switzerland, too many deer and roe deer are crowding the forests in Graubünden.

Young trees are dying because they are being eaten. The forests are in danger of becoming over-aged and unstable. This is particularly problematic in mountainous regions, where forests often provide protection against avalanches, rockfalls, and landslides.

In Graubünden, 60 percent of the forests are designated as protective forests – and they are under pressure. "We have conditions that are not tolerable in the long term," says Reto Hefti, head of the Office for Forests and Natural Hazards and cantonal forester. 21 percent of the protective forests are experiencing regeneration problems due to browsing. The protective function of the forest could be permanently impaired.

In the Alpine canton, the spring population of red deer was estimated at 12,600 animals in 2000; this number climbed to 14,000 in 2011 and to 16,500 this spring. The trend is likely similar for roe deer, whose populations are not recorded. The mild winters of recent years have also contributed to this increase.

Packs kill 300 wild animals a year

The region around the Calanda massif between the Chur Rhine Valley and the St. Gallen Tamina Valley is an exception. Switzerland's first wolf pack formed there in 2011. Since then, according to the Graubünden Office for Hunting and Fishing, the number of deer in the wolves' hunting territory has decreased by an estimated third, while it has increased by 18 percent across the entire canton.

There has also been a decline in roe deer and chamois populations, but it is less pronounced. Overall, the herd of about ten animals kills around 300 deer, roe deer, and chamois each year. Forestry experts believe that the reduction in wildlife populations should have a positive effect on the natural regeneration of the forest. However, cantonal forester Hefti says that this cannot yet be statistically proven on the Calanda mountain. The forest simply develops on a completely different timescale than humans and animals.

“Common sense dictates that fewer deer will eat saplings,” Hefti says. He assumes that a positive influence of the wolf will be scientifically confirmed in a few years. Such an effect has already been confirmed for the lynx.

Forestry engineers want more wolves

The Swiss Forestry Association (SFV), the professional association of forestry engineers, called five years ago for allowing the natural immigration and spread of the wolf. "Where lynx and wolf are regularly present, less damage to forest regeneration is observed," the SFV stated in 2012.

This position is also taken by the Graubünden Office for Forests in the new 2018+ Forest Development Plan, which is currently open for public consultation. "Predators are welcome from a forestry perspective," it states. The "spread of predators to previously unoccupied areas in the canton" is explicitly welcomed. A "significant reduction in wildlife damage" is expected. The plan anticipates that not only will the reduction in wildlife populations have a positive impact, but also the influence of wolves on the distribution of wildlife within the forest.

More silver firs again

“The game is moving around more, not always staying in the same spots,” explains Mattiu Cathomen, district forester in Tamins, a core habitat of the wolf pack. As a result, browsing damage is less concentrated. Cathomen believes the positive impact of the wolf is already evident. “We can already see it in the forest,” he says. He notes the numerous small silver firs between two and five years old.

This hasn't happened in Tamins for decades. The dominant tree in the Grisons forest was always browsed and killed as a yearling. Now, after initial negative effects, the pressure from wild animals has decreased. "The wolf pack is certainly positive for the forest," is the conclusion from the front lines.

Habitat for more wolves

Between 30 and 40 wolves live in Switzerland. One pack has established itself in each of the cantons of Ticino and Valais, except in the Calanda massif. The habitat and prey available in Switzerland offer potential for 17 packs.

Forests and heaths are the habitat of wolves. We have plenty of these in Switzerland and throughout the Alpine region. Moreover, these predators are highly adaptable. However, their spread depends not only on ecological carrying capacity but also on public acceptance. While surveys show a majority in favor of the wolf's return, many people are simultaneously afraid.

The wolf has a bad reputation. Yet attacks on humans are exceptional. The few documented attacks in Europe are attributed to individual animals that were either threatened or suffering from rabies. As long as the discussion is based solely on prejudice, fears cannot be dispelled. More on this in the section on hunting myths .

Stopping the spread of wolves is difficult. Hundreds of animals already live in the Alpine region. In Germany, 35 packs have formed within just a few years. Moreover, they can travel vast distances. There have been instances of a wolf traveling up to 1,000 kilometers in just a few months to find a mate and then start a family.

The return of the wolf to Switzerland is fraught with tension: the population sees its recreational activities in forests and mountains threatened, livestock farmers fear for their sheep and cattle, and recreational hunters view the wolf as a competitor. Foresters, on the other hand, wholeheartedly welcome the predator. "Without predators, our forests are not in balance," says Maurus Frei, head of the Forest and Wildlife working group of the Swiss Forestry Association. Deer, roe deer, and chamois prevent natural regeneration in significant parts of Swiss forests. "If the small trees are browsed too heavily, the large trees that protect us and our villages from natural hazards will be missing in the future." Frei is convinced: "Like recreational hunters, the lynx and the wolf can therefore contribute to reducing high game populations and thus help safeguard the services provided by the forests."

An adult wolf eats between three and five kilograms of fresh meat or carrion per day. That's equivalent to about 70 deer per year. "They prefer to kill old or weak animals," says Gabor von Bethlenfalvy, head of the predator department at WWF Switzerland. A pack often observes a herd of wild animals for hours until it identifies the weakest prey. "In this way, wolves help maintain a strong and healthy wildlife population."

To get the wolf out of the woodwork

Nevertheless, the wolf is currently under considerable pressure. The Federal Council has relaxed the hunting law . Now, culling will also be permitted to prevent damage. Nature and animal protection organizations are up in arms. "Shooting wolves is wrongly being promoted as the simplest solution," says von Bethlenfalvy of WWF Switzerland. In most cases, indiscriminate killing does not reduce attacks on livestock, and sometimes even exacerbates the problem. Recreational hunting is failing as a means of population control .

This is the conclusion of the recently published study " Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment ". "The loss of a pack member destabilizes the family structure, making it more unpredictable." Pack stability, however, is, alongside livestock protection, one of the most important factors in keeping attacks on farm animals to a minimum.

Dossier: Wolves in Switzerland: Facts, politics and the limits of hunting