Public service Federal Council brings new legal provisions on wolf shooting into force
In future, the cantons will be able to regulate wolf packs causing damage between February and August under certain conditions. The Federal Council has brought the revised Hunting Act into force on February 1, 2025. A transitional solution currently applies.
13.12.2024, 12:17
SDA
Parliament relaxed the Hunting Act in December 2022, in particular to reduce conflicts between alpine farming and wolves. To this end, it introduced preventive regulation of the wolf population.
To enable the cantons to act quickly, the Federal Council brought this provision into force by ordinance on December 1, 2023 for a limited period until the end of January 2025. From February, the amended Hunting Act will enter into force definitively together with the amended Hunting Ordinance, as the Federal Council announced on Friday.
In order for the cantons to be able to intervene in the wolf population from September to January before any damage has been done, certain conditions must be met: there must be a risk to livestock and herd protection measures must be implemented. Some of the young animals can then be regulated.
As a rule, the federal government must give its consent
Entire packs can only be shot down if they display undesirable behavior, whereby the minimum number of packs per region may not be undercut. The Federal Office for the Environment (FOEN) must approve the cantons' applications for regulation.
From June to August, the cantons can also reactively regulate wolf packs that are causing damage, i.e. after damage has been caused. These culls are also ordered by the cantons, subject to prior approval by the FOEN.
The cantons can now also shoot individual wolves that pose a threat to humans. It was already possible to shoot individual wolves in the event of damage. The approval of the FOEN is not required in this case.
The wolf population in Switzerland has increased exponentially in recent years. At the same time, the number of attacks by wolves on livestock has also risen significantly.
