Schwyz backs wolf culls as debate over herd protection grows

Schwyz has approved wolf culls and trained 200 hunters to help wildlife wardens, as a cantonal lawmaker calls for an entire pack to be shot. SRF reports that the Chöpfenberg pack, which has lived in the canton for about a year, has eight wolves.

SVP cantonal parliament member Samuel Lütolf says livestock have been killed at an alarming rate and wants the pack removed pre-emptively, rather than waiting for further losses. Five wolf attacks on livestock have been recorded in Schwyz in 2026, with several sheep and at least one goat killed.

The cantonal government says herd protection measures are not yet working as intended. In a response to a parliamentary motion, it cited sections of pasture without fences, metal fences that were not electrified and gaps beneath the lowest fence wire.

Group Wolf Switzerland, which promotes coexistence between people and large predators, says better herd protection is the way forward. It pointed to Graubünden, where it reported 35 percent fewer livestock losses than the previous year despite 80 percent more wolf pups. The group also said livestock losses across Switzerland during the 2026 summer grazing season were just over 180, compared with more than 400 the year before. Its figures excluded Ticino, which had not published current data.

Across Switzerland, the Federal Office for the Environment had issued approvals for preventive culls affecting 39 wolf packs by early autumn 2026, compared with 22 at the same point in 2025. The increase was partly linked to a change in hunting rules. In Schwyz, Glarus and St Gallen, targeted culls of two-thirds of the pups born in 2026 were approved.