Fewer livestock killed by wolves in Switzerland

In Graubünden around 50% fewer killings by wolves were recorded Keystone / Sina Schuldt

The number of livestock killed by wolves in Switzerland has fallen by 29% compared with the previous year.

Last year 1,200 livestock animals were killed by wolves in Switzerland by the end of September, the programme Schweiz Aktuell on Swiss public television, SRF, reported on Tuesday.

In 2023 the figure is 850 animals. According to SRF, which relied on “exclusively available figures”, the strongest decline was recorded in canton Glarus. There, 80% fewer farm animals were killed compared with the previous year.

In Graubünden, around 50% fewer killings were recorded. And in cantons Valais and Ticino the numbers are also declining. In contrast, the number of killings in cantons Vaud and St Gallen remained stable.

+ How many wolves are good for Switzerland?

According to the environmental organisation Pro Natura, this decline is due to the expansion of herd protection, a spokeswoman said in the SRF programme. The president of the Swiss Sheep Breeders’ Association countered that the decline was due to the fact that fewer alps were home to sheep because of the predator.

Only last Sunday seven alpacas were killed and two injured by wolves in Elm in canton Glarus. On Tuesday it was reported that the Federal Office for the Environment had given the canton permission to shoot two of five young animals of the pack and one of three young wolves of another pack.

How we work

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 [e-mail].