Swiss perspectives in 10 languages

Swiss canton plans cull of wolf packs

Wolf in bushes
Revised hunting laws have given cantons greater scope to cull wolf packs. Keystone / Wwf/giancarlo Mancori

According to the authorities in the Swiss canton of Valais, the planned removal of seven of its 13 resident wolf packs is no easy task.

It would be a great success if between 10 and 15 animals could be killed in the next two months.

+ When it’s legal to shoot the wrong wolf

Nicolas Bourquin, head of the Valais Office for Hunting, Fishing and Wildlife, told the media in Sion on Monday: “We have to remain realistic in terms of human resources, the nature of the terrain and the weather conditions in winter.”

The canton has set its sights on the packs in the regions of Nanztal, Augstbord, Hérens-Mandelon, Le Fou-Isérables, Les Toules, Les Hauts-Forts and Chablais. “That’s a total of around 34 wolves and it will take some time,” explained State Councillor Frédéric Favre, Head of the Department of Security, Institutions and Sport.

+ Swiss wolf population multiplying rapidly 

The planned shootings will take place within the framework of the revised Federal Hunting Act, which comes into force on 1 December. Shooting is permitted until 31 January.

This news story has been written and carefully fact-checked by an external editorial team. At SWI swissinfo.ch we select the most relevant news for an international audience and use automatic translation tools such as DeepL to translate it into English. Providing you with automatically translated news gives us the time to write more in-depth articles. You can find them here

If you want to know more about how we work, have a look here, and if you have feedback on this news story please write to english@swissinfo.ch.

External Content
Your subscription could not be saved. Please try again.
Almost finished… We need to confirm your email address. To complete the subscription process, please click the link in the email we just sent you.
Daily news

Get the most important news from Switzerland in your inbox.

Daily

The SBC Privacy Policy provides additional information on how your data is processed.


Most Read
Swiss Abroad

Most Discussed

News

DRC: UN fact-finding mission launched in Geneva

More

DRC: UN fact-finding mission launched in Geneva

This content was published on The UN Human Rights Council approved the launch of this mechanism in Geneva on Friday, to be followed by an International Commission of Inquiry.

Read more: DRC: UN fact-finding mission launched in Geneva
Three HEKS employees killed in the Democratic Republic of Congo

More

Three employees of Swiss aid organisation killed in DRC

This content was published on Three employees of the Swiss Protestant Reformed Church (Heks) have been killed in an attack in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). They were on a humanitarian mission in the crisis region.

Read more: Three employees of Swiss aid organisation killed in DRC

In compliance with the JTI standards

More: SWI swissinfo.ch certified by the Journalism Trust Initiative

You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here . Please join us!

If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.

SWI swissinfo.ch - a branch of Swiss Broadcasting Corporation SRG SSR

SWI swissinfo.ch - a branch of Swiss Broadcasting Corporation SRG SSR