Significantly more wolves shot in Valais than expected
Published: Wednesday, Jan 31st 2024, 15:40
Updated At: Wednesday, Jan 31st 2024, 15:40
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27 wolves have been shot in Valais since 1 December as part of the preventive hunting authorized by the federal government. The target of 34 wolves killed by the end of the hunting period, which expires on Wednesday, has therefore almost been reached.
The authorities' expectations were even exceeded. At the beginning of the wolf hunt, they had declared that the campaign would already be "a great success" if the canton were to shoot "between 10 and 15 wolves" in December and January.
According to the figures published on the website of the Hunting, Fishing and Wildlife Agency, the Augstbord and Val d'Hérens packs were decimated the most. The first lost eleven animals, the second nine. Two wolves from the Nanz pack, three from the Les Toules pack and two from the Chablais pack were also killed.
Suspensive effect
The two packs from Fou-Isérables and Hauts-Forts remained undisturbed. In mid-December, the Federal Administrative Court blocked the preventive killing of three packs with suspensive effect after several environmental organizations filed a lawsuit against it.
The appellant organizations Pro Natura, WWF, BirdLife and the Wolf Switzerland group are of the opinion that the federal government and cantons are "disregarding the principle of proportionality and the important role that the predator plays in the forest ecosystem". The two cantons and the Federal Office for the Environment then tried unsuccessfully to have the suspensive effect lifted.
Around 50 wolves killed
According to environmental organizations, around 50 wolves were shot across the country during the two-month wolf hunt and at least two entire packs were wiped out. Before the wolf hunt in December and January, there were 32 packs in Switzerland with a total of around 300 wolves, according to the federal government.
On Tuesday, Pro Natura, WWF, BirdLife and the Wolf Switzerland group once again sharply criticized the hunting ordinance. The ordinance contradicts the Hunting Act and the Department of the Environment should return to "proper work", they demanded in a press release.
The "handily decreed hunting ordinance with arbitrarily defined thresholds" and the "nationwide elimination of entire packs" based on it was a "quick fix with alarming consequences".
The legally protected wolf species has been degraded to a pest, and even largely inconspicuous packs should have been decimated or even eliminated. However, the bite record tracked until the end of 2023 shows that herd protection is working.
©Keystone/SDA
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