SAVE SWISS WOLVES!

Ecocide! Switzerland is culling 70% of its wolves

We demand:  STOP this senseless and unjustified killing of protected wolves immediately and consistently rely on uncompromising herd protection.


Switzerland has embarked on the most extreme wolf cull ever implemented in Europe since the recovery of the species. For two months starting on 1 December 2023, five cantons - the Grisons, St Gallen, Ticino, Valais and Vaud - have been exterminating entire packs and shooting the young wolves in others. Switzerland’s wolf population will be reduced by up to 70%, leaving just 12 packs.
And the cull is just the beginning. Swiss law has been changed to allow the hunting of wolves - a protected species - for five months each year from September to January.

Help save swiss wolf-population - Please sign the petition

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Wolves - our wild partners!
We need wolves. Wolves shape and ensure healthy ecosystems, contributing to a richer animal and plant life, thereby increasing our biodiversity. They also help regulate ungulate populations, allowing over-browsed forests to regrow, and by preying on weak and sick wild prey they control the spread of diseases.

Biodiversity - and climate - heroes!
As apex predators, wolves control herbivore populations and influence their behaviour to avoid certain high-risk areas, causing prey “trophic cascades” which in turn have significant and positive impacts on the carbon cycle and even climate change. These powerful interactions alter entire ecosystems, increasing biodiversity and promoting ecosystem resilience. Science has long known of these complex webs and trophic relations, but is only now discovering how vital they are to societal welfare.

Virus fighters!
Wolves have been shown to directly reduce both classical swine fever and African Swine Flu (ASF), deadly viruses that affects both wild boar and domestic pigs, causing huge economic losses. Wolves also help delay outbreaks of chronic wasting disease (CWD) a neurological disorder fatal to cervids (deer, moose, reindeer etc.) and caused by prions that leaves infected animals so lethargic and emaciated it has been dubbed "zombie deer disease". There is a very real fear that this fatal mad cow-type infection could one day jump to humans.
But wolves have maintained immunity to the disease and by removing diseased wild boar, deer and infectious carrion, wolves act as resilient cleaners in ecosystems. The wolves are fed, the dangerous viruses are eliminated and the ecosystem remains in balance.

Questions of Coexistence
Coexistence with wolf populations is vital, especially alongside livestock, but culling wolves is not the solution and has even been shown to be counterproductive. Practical measures like wolf-proof fencing and guardian dogs safeguard both wildlife and livelihoods. And they were working in Switzerland, with livestock predation down 29% this year compared to the same time last year, despite the presence of more wolves.

Public support
We have science and public opinion on our side. Wolves are “protected” under Swiss law and are a “strictly protected fauna species” under the Bern Convention on the Conservation of European Wildlife and Natural Habitats, which Switzerland has ratified. Moreover, the decision for the cull goes against the outcome of a national referendum in 2020 when people voted FOR wolves.
The presence of wolves in Switzerland isn’t just a matter of ecological importance, it is testament to our values of cohabitation and tolerance. We must learn to coexist with this iconic keystone species.

We do not need to kill wolves. We have options. Wolves do not.

Please sign the petition to help save our wolves.

www.CHWOLF.org