How should we deal with the wolf? Esther Friedli, a member of the SVP Council of States from St. Gallen, and representatives of farmers are calling for the path taken by the Federal Council to be continued and intensified.
It’s all about this: “Our alpine farming is in danger.” National Councillor Markus Ritter (Centre/SG) said this sentence at a media conference in Flumserberg SG. The president of the Swiss Farmers’ Association is referring to the increasing number of wolf attacks on livestock in the Alpine region.
Why this invitation to Flumserberg? The media event took place on the Alp Halde. This summer, 50 sheep have already been killed in the canton of St. Gallen, 20 of them from protected herds on this Alp. Last week, a herd protection dog was also injured in a wolf attack. Those present, including Markus Ritter, Council of States member Esther Friedli (SVP/SG) and others, spoke of “unacceptable conditions”.
The demands on the Federal Council: Esther Friedli said at the media conference that the revised hunting regulations still need to be improved. She is calling for the approach taken by Federal Councillor Albert Rösti to be followed and made more stringent. “Wolves and packs that cause damage must be allowed to be shot immediately. And not just half of the young animals, but the entire pack,” said Friedli. She is also calling for a reduction in bureaucracy so that the cantons can act more quickly.
This is what the statistics say: The wolf population has risen sharply in recent years. At the end of the 1990s, there were hardly any wolves living in this country, but since 2019 the population has tripled. There are currently around 240 wolves living in 30 packs in Switzerland. As the wolf population has increased, so has the number of livestock killed. In 2017, 287 animals were killed, and in 2022, 1,480.
How we treat wolves is causing political debate.
imago/Funke Photo Services
Where are the problems? Farmers’ president Markus Ritter responds to the environmental associations by saying that wolves behave differently than they are told. “They jump over correctly installed protective fences and kill more animals than they can eat. Wolves learn quickly and always adapt.” The hunting regulations must therefore be designed in such a way that wolves can be effectively regulated. In other words: packs should be shot instead of individual wolves.
What does the Wolf Switzerland group say? Managing Director of Wolf SwitzerlandDavid Gerke, says that the demand to be allowed to shoot entire packs does not make sense. “We know that individual wolves can certainly cause more damage than entire packs.” This has been shown by the attacks of recent months and years. “A well-trained pack is better than no pack. Where there are no packs, new wolves are constantly moving in,” Gerke continues.
Herd protection is the focus of the discussion.
Keystone/Gian Ehrenzeller
Are there too few livestock guardian dogs? According to Martin Keller, the president of the St. Gallen Sheep Breeders’ Association, it is unclear how the livestock guarding dog system will be financed. “We are heading for disaster with the new direction,” he says. From 2025, responsibility will lie with the cantons. “It is becoming apparent that this handover will not work smoothly,” says Keller. In addition, there are too few dogs for the increasing demand.
What happens next? According to the Federal Office for the Environment (FOEN), it is clear that regulating the wolf population will become a permanent task. The discussion shows that it will be difficult to find solutions that are acceptable to all parties. The Federal Council will decide by the end of the year what the new hunting regulations should look like. The new regulations are due to come into force on February 1, 2025.