Predator regulation –
Fewer wolf attacks but more shooting authorizations
Wolves are increasingly being targeted by shooting decisions while herd attacks have decreased in Switzerland, except in the canton of Vaud where they have increased.
Published today at 11:51 a.m.
An alliance of environmental associations is concerned that more and more wolves are being targeted by a shooting decision while the number of livestock killed is decreasing.
KEYSTONE/Michael Buholzer
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More and more wolves are being targeted by a shooting decision while the number of livestock killed continues to fall in 2024, worries an alliance of environmental associations. It requires that workforce regulation be carried out with moderation.
“Compared to last year, herd attacks have further decreased, and this for the third year in a row,” BirdLife, the Swiss Wolf Group (GLS), Pro Natura and the WWF noted in a joint press release on Wednesday. Even though the number of wolves has increased, the Confederation and certain cantons “are pursuing a policy disconnected from reality”.
In detail, Ysengrin attacks have increased only in the canton of Vaud. They decreased in Valais and Graubünden. “This downward trend was already a reality in the summer of 2023, therefore before the start of preventive shots ordered without restraint,” deplores the four associations.
They decreased significantly in Valais (from 265 to 195), in Graubünden (from 360 to 324) and in Glarus (from 30 to 4). The figures come from monthly data provided by the cantons.
Efforts to protect herds explain these decreases. “This downward trend was already a reality in the summer of 2023, therefore before the start of preventive shootings ordered without restraint,” deplore the four associations.
Eight authorizations
Despite these declining figures, the number of shots authorized has increased. Since last winter, the Federal Office for the Environment (FOEN) has given the green light to the shooting of eight packs.
In certain cantons, it is enough for a pack to have attacked a single protected livestock animal for it to be condemned, the associations note. However, they remind us that the culling of entire packs should only be considered “as a last resort, when all other alternative measures have failed”.
In the eyes of BirdLife, the Swiss Wolf Group (GLS), Pro Natura and WWF, the law is sometimes not respected. The implementation of shooting authorizations “sometimes ignores the provisions of the FOEN relating to the protection of young people or the ban on shooting in regions where packs overlap”.
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