Wolf limit: Federal Council follows Regazzi

Switzerland would thus be taking a further step away from a scientifically based protection concept towards symbolic political population management of a strictly protected pack animal.

The motion by Fabio Regazzi (The Centre/TI) demands that the federal government and cantons set target values for the wolf population for Switzerland or for individual regions, an upper limit above which "surplus" animals are removed.

Key points: Politically defined upper limits for the number of wolves and packs per region. Regulation should be possible as soon as these thresholds are exceeded, regardless of specific damage incidents. Based on the ibex model: Populations are reduced "according to plan" at regular intervals.

Regazzi is thus shifting the logic of wolf policy: away from the question of whether livestock protection has failed in individual cases, whether attacks are documented or whether an animal is conspicuous, towards the simple assertion that there are "too many" wolves.

The Federal Council acts as an amplifier, not as a corrective.

Instead of slowing down this politicized population cap, the Federal Council recommends adopting the motion. In its statement, it refers to the growing wolf population, around 180 animals and about 17 packs, and the pressure from cantons and the agricultural sector.

What is remarkable about the argument is the absence of any mention of Switzerland's international legal obligation to protect large predators. There is no serious examination of how a politically defined "ideal population size" for a migratory, genetically dependent pack animal could even be reliably established. And there is no acknowledgment that some of the conflicts are man-made, resulting from inadequate livestock protection, improper feeding of wild animals, and recreational hunting that constantly puts ecosystems under stress.

The Federal Council is thus legitimizing the narrative that the wolf is primarily a problem of numbers, not a problem of management and conflict culture.

From protection type to conservation objective: The paradigm shift

Until now, the rule was: The wolf is protected, regulation is possible in exceptional cases, such as repeated attacks despite herd protection or clearly defined “conspicuous” animals.

With a cap on the number of birds culled, this relationship is reversed: regulation becomes the norm once the politically agreed-upon limit is reached. Protection is effectively reduced to what remains after the culls.

Experiences from Norway and Sweden show where this leads: mini-populations that are genetically barely viable, highly controversial hunting quotas, ongoing legal proceedings and court decisions that stop wolf shootings.

Instead of learning from these mistakes, Switzerland is now adopting the logic, not the lessons.

Scientific doubts and practical problems

Even from a wildlife biology perspective, the idea of upper limits is questionable: population growth naturally levels off over time because habitats are occupied and prey populations act as limiting factors. Culling can trigger compensatory effects: wolves reproduce faster, new animals migrate into the area, and pack structures become destabilized.

Biologist Simon Aeschbacher points out that the current population trend of wolves in Switzerland cannot simply be explained by culling; natural factors play a major role.

The Wolf Group Switzerland (GWS) also criticizes the political upper limit as practically and legally hardly feasible: Even today, many authorized culls are not carried out because the animals cannot be found or because the legal hurdles are higher than the political rhetoric suggests.

Distraction from the real problem: livestock protection and hobby hunting

The debate about upper limits shifts the focus away from the actual levers for change: comprehensive, professional livestock protection with clear standards and controls; reduction of disturbances caused by hobby hunting, leisure activities and tourism in sensitive areas; clear rules against feeding wild animals and against practices that make prey animals unnecessarily vulnerable to attacks.

Instead of consistently completing this homework, the wolf is made a scapegoat and its numbers are declared to be an objective control variable.

More background information on the role of the wolf in the ecosystem and on the policy of "proactive regulation" can be found in our dossier " Wolf in Switzerland: Facts, politics and the limits of hunting " on wildbeimwild.com.

What the upper limit means politically

The Regazzi motion does not come out of nowhere: The National Council has already spoken in favor of creating "wolf-free zones", but the Council of States rejected the corresponding motion and only demanded an examination of such areas.

The upper limit is therefore part of a gradual normalization of wolf culls in Switzerland. It sends a signal to the cantons that political pressure pays off: those who speak up loud enough get culling quotas. And it sets a precedent for other species: what is possible today with wolves can be demanded tomorrow for lynx, beavers, or other wild animals.

Switzerland risks jeopardizing its reputation as a country of proactive nature and species conservation, especially with regard to a flagship animal of European biodiversity.

A ceiling is not a solution, but a symptom.

A politically defined upper limit for wolves does not solve a single one of the real conflict areas: it does not improve fences, does not replace missing livestock guardian dogs, and does not defuse tensions between recreational hunters, agriculture and tourism.

But it creates a new problem: A protected wild animal becomes a negotiable commodity that can be trimmed down depending on the prevailing mood.

If Switzerland is serious about making science and animal welfare the benchmark of its environmental policy, it doesn't need fewer wolves, but rather less symbolic politics and an honest debate about how much wilderness we actually want to allow in a densely populated country.

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