Spate of wolf attacks on Swiss livestock prompts backlash

There are currently about 130 wolves and at least 11 packs in Switzerland. Keystone / Alberio Pini

Wolves have killed livestock in the south and east of the country in a series of separate attacks prompting calls for their extermination. 

Wolves have attacked a second cow in the eastern Swiss canton of Graubünden, five days after the previous attack. The animal had to be euthanised due to severe injuries. The news was confirmed by the cantonal hunting and fishing office on Friday. 

The wolves are suspected to belong to the Piz Beverin pack. Last weekend, several wolves from the same pack killed a cow on a mountain pasture in the region. The attack provoked an outcry from the farmers’ and alpine farmers’ associations. They are demanding that the entire pack on Piz Beverin be culled.

Attacks on livestock have previously targeted sheep and goats. Farmers in the region are alarmed that wolves are now starting to tackle cows.

On Friday, authorities in the southern canton of Valais ordered the shooting of a wolf in the Val d’Illiez region near the French border. The animal has killed twelve livestock on mountain pastures in the area. Four wolves have already been culled in the canton this year. 

The revised Swiss federal law on hunting, which came into force in July 2021, allows a wolf to be shot as soon as it has killed at least ten sheep or goats over a period of four months on protected or unprotected mountain pastures. 

“The conditions for shooting are therefore fulfilled,” the Valais cantonal government said in a statement on Friday.

The canton’s hunting, fishing and wildlife service will have sixty days to cull the wolf.

Distribution of wolf packs in Switzerland (Rudel = pack, Einzeltiere = solitary animals) Swiss Wolf Group

There are currently about 130 wolves and at least 11 packs in Switzerland. They are estimated to kill around 300-500 sheep and goats per year.