Valais hunting president warns against false expectations of wolf hunting
Published: Sunday, Nov 19th 2023, 05:20
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The president of the cantonal hunters' association of Valais warns against false expectations of wolf control: "We will never succeed in removing over two thirds of the wolves in Valais this winter," says Pascal Vuignier.
It will take five to ten years to achieve this goal, said Vuignier in an interview with the NZZ am Sonntag. "Politicians are fueling false hopes in some cases." He expects that "perhaps" 10 to 15 wolves will be shot this winter. "We will have the same number of wolves again next summer as we have now."
Hunting wolves is difficult because the animals inhabit a huge territory, says Vuignier. "It will be very difficult to find them. Wolves are very intelligent and discreet." In contrast to gemsbok hunting, wolf hunting is also very static. "Shooting a wolf means staying out at night in winter at minus 15 degrees, not turning on your cell phone and not making any noise."
Wallis wants to eliminate seven packs
However, hunting the predators is necessary, said Vuignier. "You can't be paranoid. But it is true that the wolf has lost its fear of humans because it has hardly been hunted so far."
Valais wants to eliminate seven of the 13 wolf packs living in the canton and neighboring areas, as was announced on Friday. This corresponds to the shooting of around 34 wolves out of an estimated population of 90 to 120 animals in total. With the relaxation of wolf protection in Switzerland, wolves can now be shot before they have caused any damage. This applies not only to individual animals, but also to entire packs. The Federal Council approved the amendment to the Hunting Ordinance at the beginning of November.
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