Hunters in the Swiss canton of Valais shot a wolf on Tuesday in the Goms area. The cantonal government had previously issued a shooting permit for this. Since the start of alpine grazing, there have been regular wolf attacks on sheep flocks. Two weeks ago, more than ten sheep were killed.
According to the canton of Valais, the recently relaxed requirements of the national hunting law for allowing hunting of the protected wolf were met. Hunting is now permitted if wolves kill livestock grazing in fenced areas, or in steep rocky areas that cannot be fenced.
Previously, wolves could only be killed if a very large number of animals were attacked within a very short period. Over the past fifteen years, the Valais department reportedly hunted a wolf in only five cases. In recent months, Swiss farmers and villagers have increasingly called for wolves causing damage to livestock to be culled earlier and more frequently.
In Valais alone, wolves are believed to have killed at least 35 sheep in July. For this reason, local authorities requested permission on Tuesday to shoot one or more wolves. There is also growing opposition to wolves among local populations in the cantons of Bern, Graubünden, and Vaud.
A week ago, the canton of Graubünden announced it would kill at least one wolf after numerous attacks on grazing livestock on various alpine pastures. The canton of Vaud submitted an application to the federal government on Monday to shoot two young wolves following several confirmed attacks on livestock in the Vaud Jura.