Swiss perspectives in 10 languages

Swiss canton cleared to shoot four wolf packs

Canton Valais may now shoot four wolf packs after all
Canton Valais may now shoot four wolf packs after all Keystone-SDA

The Swiss canton of Valais has been cleared to cull four of its 11 resident wolf packs following a change of mind by the Federal Office for the Environment (FOEN).

+ Get the most important news from Switzerland in your inbox

Initially, the FOEN had decided that the canton of Valais could only shoot one of the four wolf packs – the Nanz pack.

But officials have now approved a supplementary application from the canton to shoot more wolves, including the Hérens-Mandelon pack.

+ How many wolves are good for Switzerland?

After receiving the FOEN’s approval, State Councillor Frédéric Favre, head of the Department of Security, Institutions and Sport, ordered the removal of this pack as well, the canton of Valais announced on Wednesday.

The wolf population in Valais is estimated at 90 to 120 individuals. In the current hunting season, five wolves have been killed in Valais so far, two of them by gamekeepers and three by hunters. The regulation permit is valid until January 31, 2025.

More

Translated from German by DeepL/mga

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.

Popular Stories

Most Discussed

News

Brienz GR must prepare for another evacuation

More

Swiss village Brienz to be evacuated due to rockslide risk

This content was published on Local authorities announced that up to 1.2 million cubic metres of rock could move towards the mountain village of Brienz. The municipality is preparing a preventive evacuation.

Read more: Swiss village Brienz to be evacuated due to rockslide risk
"With Temu and Shein Swiss merchants lose billions."

More

Swiss businesses losing billions due to Temu and Shein

This content was published on Swiss businesses are losing billions of francs a year as a result of the spread of Chinese online platforms Temu and Shein, says the director of the federation of Swiss retailers.

Read more: Swiss businesses losing billions due to Temu and Shein
Swiss Armed Forces have around 147,000 personnel

More

Number of Swiss armed forces exceeds specified limit

This content was published on The Swiss armed forces had an effective headcount of around 147,000 as of March 1, 2024. This exceeds the upper limit of 140,000 specified in the army organisation by 5%.

Read more: Number of Swiss armed forces exceeds specified limit

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