Eastern Switzerland Wolf kills six sheep on Schofberg in Wildhaus-Alt St. Johann

One or more wolves killed six sheep in the municipality of Wildhaus-Alt St. Johann SG at the beginning of the week. According to the Herd Protection Office, there were no herd protection measures in place. According to the Office for Nature, Hunting and Fishing, 82 farm animals have been killed by wolves in the canton of St. Gallen this year.

The six farm animals in Wildhaus-Alt St. Johann were killed on the Schofberg, according to the website of the Hunting Department of the St. Gallen Office for Nature, Hunting and Fishing. The "Toggenburger Tagblatt" reported on the sheep kills on Friday morning.

The gamekeeper responsible confirmed a wolf attack based on the bite marks. Simon Meier, head of the hunting department at the Office for Nature, Hunting and Fishing, said this when asked by the Keystone-SDA news agency. The analysis of the DNA samples taken is still pending. It is therefore still unclear which wolf or wolves killed the animals.

"In terms of the area, it could be a wolf from the Gamserrug pack," Meier continued. The Schofberg lies within the territory of the Gamserrug pack.

No livestock guarding dogs

In August, the canton of St. Gallen submitted an application to the federal government to regulate a maximum of half of the pups in the Gamserrug pack. "We are currently still waiting for approval from the federal government," Meier continued.

The alp in question had erected electric fences in certain places, said Sven Baumgartner from the cantonal contact point for herd protection on request. However, it was not possible to erect fences everywhere due to the topography and the animals that had been torn were not adequately protected. There are no livestock guarding dogs on the alp.

SDA