Graubünden partially resumes wolf hunting
Published: Monday, Dec 11th 2023, 19:31
العودة إلى البث المباشر
Graubünden is resuming wolf hunting in parts of the canton, although a complaint from nature conservation organizations is pending before the Federal Administrative Court. This was announced by the Graubünden Office for Hunting and Fishing on Monday evening.
The details of the complaint submitted on Friday are now known, according to the statement. It is only directed against part of the "proactive regulation" launched on December 1.
No legal action has been taken against the hunting of the Lenzerhorn and Beverin packs. This means that hunters who register for the special hunt can also support the game warden in regulating these packs.
On Friday, the Graubünden authorities halted the entire wolf hunt and justified this with the requested suspensive effect of the complaints. On Monday, the canton criticized the conservationists, claiming that they had not informed them of the exact content of the complaints when they were submitted.
"I regret that our work is being made so difficult by the complaints", cantonal councillor Carmelia Maissen was quoted as saying. She added that the canton of Graubünden practiced prudent wolf management.
The nature conservation organizations want to have several orders for the shooting of wolves in the cantons of Graubünden and Valais reviewed by the courts. They believe the law has been violated and have submitted two complaints to the Federal Administrative Court. One concerns the canton of Graubünden, the second the canton of Valais.
"Not proportionate"
On Monday, Pro Natura, WWF Switzerland and Birdlife Switzerland justified their objections to the shooting orders. The demands are also supported by the Wolf Switzerland group, which is not entitled to appeal.
According to a joint press release from the four organizations, the federal government and cantons are disregarding any sense of proportionality and ignoring the important role of the wolf in the forest habitat. They refer to the debate on the Hunting and Protection Act in parliament. There it was stated that the shooting of entire packs must remain the exception and may only be applied to packs that have gotten "out of control".
"Irritating"
It is "particularly irritating" that the federal government and cantons have now "approved the regulation of entire packs of wolves". Contrary to the Federal Council's assurances, the shooting of entire packs that had only killed very few livestock had also been approved.
This violates applicable law. The nature conservation organizations are therefore challenging four of the eight culling orders in the canton of Graubünden in court. This concerns the planned elimination of the Stagias and Vorab packs and the regulation of the Jatzhorn and Rügiul packs. In the canton of Valais, the complaints concern the shooting of the Hauts-Forts, Nanztal and Isérables-Fou packs.
Stop ordered by the canton
Graubünden's decision on Friday to completely stop wolf hunting immediately surprised even the nature conservation organizations. Nicolas Wüthrich, information officer at Pro Natura, one of the organizations lodging the complaint, told the Keystone-SDA news agency.
This is because their application only concerned four of the eight culling orders issued by the federal government. "The cantonal authorities ordered the cessation of all shooting in the canton of Graubünden and was not part of our complaint," the WWF stated.
Consequences in Valais still unclear
The second appeal concerns three of the canton of Valais' shooting orders. It was submitted on Monday. Upon request, the canton of Valais stated that it had not yet received any official documents on the complaints and therefore did not wish to comment at this time.
The Federal Council brought the first part of the amendment to the Hunting Act into force for a limited period on November 1 and amended the ordinance accordingly. This gives the cantons the opportunity to carry out "preventive regulatory shooting" as early as December and January if they receive approval from the FOEN.
In Graubünden, eight of 44 approved wolf kills were carried out. In Valais, gamekeepers and hunters shot ten of the approximately 34 wolves they wanted to shoot.
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