Valais wants to shoot more wolves, the Confederation refuses
The Federal Council says it is aware of the difficult situation but nevertheless refuses to issue an emergency ordinance.
The pressure increases on the wolf, and on the Confederacy, in this summer season. (Illustrative photo)
KEYSTONE/LAURENT GILLIERON
Despite the big pressure from Valais, the Federal Council will not issue an emergency ordinance allowing the canton to kill more wolves for six months. Berne recalls the various tools available to deal with the situation. The canton is “disappointed”.
The purpose of the latter: to allow the canton “to regulate the overpopulation of wolves for six months in coordination with the Federal Office for the Environment (FOEN)”.
A positive point
“The Federal Council’s response was brought to the attention of the Council of State on Wednesday,” Frédéric Favre, head of the Valais department of security, institutions and sport, told Keystone-ATS on Thursday. The Federal Council says it is aware of the difficult situation, but considers that it is not serious enough to justify an emergency ordinance.
Simonetta Sommaruga, head of the federal department of the environment, transport, energy and communication (DETEC), recalls the various tools available to the canton to deal with the situation. “We are disappointed, reacts Frédéric Favre; we are going to continue to manage as best we can a situation which we know is not suitable since a draft revision of the hunting law is in preparation”.
The State Councilor, however, notes a positive point: “In her letter, Mrs. Sommaruga indicates that her department is currently examining other adaptations of the hunting ordinance for the 2023 summer season”.
millions more
Contacted by Keystone-ATS, the FOEN confirms the position of the Federal Council and refers in particular to the intervention of National Councilor Michael Graber (UDC / VS) during the summer parliamentary session. The latter wondered why the government had not yet issued an emergency ordinance.
In its response, the Federal Council recalls that it has already adapted the hunting ordinance for the 2021 summer season, within a very short time and by reducing the consultation times. The threshold from which wolf shots are possible has been “significantly lowered”.
The Federal Council also recalls that Parliament is preparing a new draft amendment to the Hunting Act aimed at enabling proactive regulation of wolves. He notes that most livestock are attacked on unprotected mountain pastures and points out that Parliament has allocated an additional 5.7 million francs for the 2022 summer season, which brings the envelope to 9.4 million francs in total intended for the protection of herds.
The pressure is increasing
The pressure increases on the wolf and the Confederacy in this summer period. It went up a notch recently with the attack on an adult suckler cow by several wolves from the Piz Beverin pack in Graubünden.
The associations of peasants and mountain pasture operators demanded that the Confederation and the canton declare without delay “a state of emergency on the wolf”. According to the Swiss Wolf Group (GLS), the attack on a suckler cow is a first in the country that should be taken seriously without overestimating its seriousness.
In a statement released on Thursday, the Swiss Peasants’ Union (USP) returns to this attack and asks to speed up the planned revision of the law on hunting: “The project must now pass at full speed before the Chambers”.
about 150 wolves
In recent years, the wolf population in Switzerland has been increasing. Currently, the country has about 150 wolves and about fifteen packs. In Valais, there should be around 50 to 70 wolves divided into 3 or 4 packs.
In 2021 in Valais, the wolf killed 336 animals out of the approximately 40,000 animals placed in mountain pastures, i.e. less than 0.9%. Since the beginning of 2022, 92 livestock (figure in mid-May) have been killed by wolves in the canton.
Posted: 2022-07-14, 21:26
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