Head of the St. Gallen office traveled to Russia for several days of wolf hunting
Published: Wednesday, Mar 27th 2024, 17:30
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The head of the Office for Nature, Hunting and Fishing of the Canton of St. Gallen took part in a wolf hunt lasting several days together with a gamekeeper during working hours in Russia. This was reported by the SRF regional journal Ostschweiz. Nature conservation associations criticize the trip as an "adventure trip" without any real gain in knowledge.
Five working days were approved by the canton for the trip to Russia, explained Beat Tinner (FDP), the St. Gallen cantonal councillor responsible, in the SRF radio report. "In response to a request, we decided that it made sense to see how wolves are regulated in other countries."
In Russia, wolves are hunted using what is known as "lapp hunting". In this drive or pressure hunt, the area in question is surrounded by cloth rags hung on lines and the animals are driven in a certain direction.
He generally supports new findings and further training, Tinner told SRF. "To our knowledge, no one has used Lapp hunting in Switzerland to date. The idea of this training course was to get to know the method and find out whether it could be used in Switzerland."
Criticism of the training trip
However, nature conservation organizations have no sympathy for the trip to hunt wolves in Russia. They criticize the controversial training of the two cantonal employees.
"There is no recognizable scientific approach to the trip, there is a lack of critical analysis and data. The trip feels more like an adventure trip," Corina del Fabbro from Pro Natura told Regionaljournal.
For the WWF, an exchange with neighboring countries on regulatory methods makes perfect sense. However, Russia is not one of these countries. The Lapp hunting practiced there is not applicable in Switzerland for legal and animal welfare reasons.
Government council justifies itself
The training took place in Russia due to the expertise there, explained Tinner when asked by the Keystone-SDA news agency. Lapp hunting does not take place during the day with dogs, electronic aids or conventional hunting weapons. This is unproblematic from an animal welfare perspective, Tinner continued.
However, a final assessment of an application in Switzerland cannot take place within the framework of further training. The challenge will be the alpine terrain. "Certain adjustments will need to be made to the implementation of Lapp hunting."
©Keystone/SDA
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