International organisations protest against Swiss wolf cull

The Wild Animal Welfare Committee has joined over 200 national and international organisations protesting against a proposed cull of Swiss wolves by up to 70%. The cull is authorised under a recent amendment to Switzerland’s national legislation that reduces protection for wolves and provides a legal framework for cantons to remove entire packs, on a preventative basis - regardless of whether or not they have caused serious damage to livestock or threatened humans.

The remaining population level is calculated as the minimum number of wolves to avoid extinction—to maintain a “minimum viable population.” As of this month, individual cantons have the power to decide whether they want to cull entire wolf packs and one canton has already dispatched invitations for hunters to select the pack they wish to target and announced that it wants to kill 34 wolves and eliminate seven of its packs

The organisations’ open letter to the Member of the Swiss Federal Council with responsibility for the environment, Albert Rösti, and the standing committee of the Bern Convention, highlights the protected status of grey wolves and the lack of public support for culling. It notes the viability of alternative measures and that electric/solar fences have shown particular promise in deterring predators.

WAWC Chair, Pete Goddard, said:

“Normally the WAWC confines its comments to domestic UK issues, but members were keen that we should support this letter. Setting out to cull entire packs of wolves, without focusing first on non-lethal deterrence and livestock protection, goes against the international principles for ethical wildlife control that we support and would be a poor example for other countries to follow. It would be more positive and constructive to focus on methods such as shepherding and guardian dogs, which are traditional in Switzerland - and should be encouraged in the UK as well, when livestock predation is a problem.”

See the open letter here.