Wolf Remains on Swiss Endangered Species List
BERNE, Switzerland, June 12, 2003 (ENS) – The Swiss National Council has
rejected an motion to remove the wolf from the Swiss list of endangered
species, according to the Large Carnivore Initiative for Europe. The
motion proposed by MP Theo Maissen and carried in the Swiss Council of
States in December 2001, required the government not to implement the
Swiss Wolf Concept and to release the country from all international
obligations that mandate wolf protection.
Under the Swiss Wolf Concept, the Swiss Cantons will continue to shoot
wolves that cause damage to livestock and the Swiss Confederation will
continue to compensate ranchers for livestock losses attributed to wolves.
Maissen contended that Switzerland is too densely populated and the
country is too dependent on tourism to allow wolves to run wild, even
though livestock owners were protected from their predation.
After a long debate, lawmakers voted 84 to 77 on June 2 in favor of an
alternative non-binding instruction to adapt the Swiss Wolf Concept.
The result means that Switzerland will be saved the potential
embarrassment of leaving the Bern Convention, also known as the Convention
on the Conservation of European Wildlife and Natural Habitats.
Opponents of wolf protection said that wolves would populate the Swiss
Alps and that livestock owners would suffer because compensation for
damages would be scrapped if the wolf’s protected status was removed.
Supporters said wolves might be viewed as a tourist attraction.