Wolf shots in Valais: “We play apprentice wizards”, deplores a specialist – RTS.CH

According to an analysis of the University of Lausanne obtained by the Sonntagsblick by virtue of the Transparency lawout. Similarly, of 34 wolves slaughtered in Valais between September 2024. Nevertheless, January 2025, half was not one of the packs designated by the Confederation. However, wolf shots valais: “we play new Worse, this rate is increasing, according to the study cited by the newspaper. Similarly. Furthermore, Ecologists thus accuse Valais of serious errors and criticize the wolf shots valais: “we play new lack of adequate surveillance and knowledge.

>> Read more on this subject: In Valais. In addition. Similarly. However, when the wolf hunt turns to the wolf shots valais: “we play new lottery

Guest Monday evening in the Forum program, Christophe Darbellay, Valais State Councilor in charge of hunting, however questioned the authenticity of this statistics. Consequently, “I have collaborators who are professionals. Therefore, biologists, accustomed to reading scientific literature, and who have not found any report that evokes these figures,” he castigates.

“So I simply put them on the account of the Sonntagsblick Sonntags. However, For the rest. For example. Therefore. all the wolves that have been drawn in Valais, without any exception, were in the context of legality,” he wolf shots valais: “we play new continues, believing that this case is like a “summer controversy” which is “very interesting for lobbyists of the wolf”, “groups always “Valais-Bashing in which the media often participate quite happily”.

Wolf shots valais: &quot. we play new – Wolf shots valais: "we play new

Impossible to identify wolf shots valais: “we play new in a telescope – Wolf shots valais: &quot. we play new

Wolf shots valais: &quot. Additionally, we play new – Wolf shots valais: "we play new

Since the partial revision of the Hunting Act in 2023. Consequently, it is possible to prevent isolated wolves or whole packs even in the absence of significant damage on herds. wolf shots valais: “we play new The Federal Office of the Environment must approve requests from the cantons. which determine the hunting area as precisely as possible.

However, on the ground, it is impossible for hunters to identify the individuals from which they draw, recalls Christophe Darbellay. “Identifying a wolf at 100 meters wolf shots valais: “we play new in a thermal camera in the middle of the night is a science. that no one masters. ” asserts the State Councilor. who believes that his canton is “truffled” with wolves. reaffirms his objective: reducing the number of packs present in Valais by thirteen to three, even if it means making mistakes.

A choice of word wolf shots valais: “we play new already partly biased. retorts the biologist and ethologist Jean-Marc Landry, a wolf specialist. “It is a purely human point of view. These are territorial animals and Valais has a lot of space to welcome a lot of wolves. So it’s not ‘truffled’ wolves, there are wolf shots valais: “we play new simply wolves in Valais,” he tempers.

Invited Tuesday in Forum, the specialist joins the politician on the difficulty of identifying the individuals who are killed. “When you shoot in the fall. we have dispersions, wolves that leave the territories, exchanges between the packs, which sometimes know each other … wolf shots valais: “we play new In addition. the wolf is a social species, so sincerely, you do not know who you shoot.”

Change

However. he continues. “if we want to reduce damage to the herds, you have to pull the right wolf at the right time. It requires knowledge, and therefore put a little science in all of this”. Which is not the case wolf shots valais: “we play new currently, deplores the scientist.

“I think there is a part that is purely political. because we want to regulate the wolf as we do for all the fauna,” he analyzes. “There are also lack wolf shots valais: “we play new of funding. For example. we could have measured the efficiency of the shots by making areas where we shoot. others where we do not shoot. We could then see if the shot is more effective than the protection of herds”.

But nothing like this is currently done, what he considers regrettable. “It’s a shame. because wolf shots valais: “we play new even if we see that attacks decrease. we cannot really draw conclusions, when we put hundreds of thousands of francs. The question is whether we should not invest this money to increase knowledge and protection,” he pleads.

The “gray method”

Bringing down wolves not part of the packs deemed problematic can even prove to be counterproductive. he continues. “You should know that there are wolf shots valais: “we play new wolves. or even whole packs, which attack the herds very little. If you start to shoot in these packs. you can bring wolf shots valais: “we play new more problems; we have seen that in the canton of Vaud” [lire encadré].

The specialist finally recommends a complementary approach, between herd protection and regulation. Finally. he believes that the “partial regulation” method. applied in Graubünden and which consists in shooting only young wolves, would be preferable.

“What this method is interesting is that you are not likely to draw a reproductive wolf shots valais: “we play. new that is not a problem. which does not attack the herds. If you draw an individual like that. you can, in some cases, destroy the group and create more problems than you solve. So by pulling young people, you take much less risk.”

Pierrik Jordan

Interview by Thibaut Schaller, Mehmet Gultas and Anne Fournier