Graubünden shoots 17 wolves as authorised culls continue

17 wolves were shot in Graubünden in September, placing the southeastern canton’s predator policy back in the national spotlight as authorised culls continue through the winter. Hunters and gamekeepers carried out the killings under permits issued by the canton. A further 61 wolves are currently authorised for culling, according to Arno Puorger, head of the Large Carnivores Division at the Cantonal Office for Hunting and Fisheries.

The cull began on September 1 and can continue until the end of January 2027 at the latest. Authorised hunters may participate during both the main and special hunting seasons. The figures give a concrete measure of the scale of the current intervention, although the source does not provide a separate breakdown by pack, location or reason for each authorisation.

Graubünden has become a central testing ground for Switzerland’s approach to large carnivores. The canton combines extensive alpine grazing, remote valleys and an active hunting culture. Those conditions bring wolves into close contact with livestock operations and rural communities, while national and cantonal authorities remain responsible for applying rules governing protected wildlife. The September total will therefore feed an argument that reaches well beyond the canton’s hunting grounds.

61 wolf culls remain authorised through January, extending the debate over how Switzerland should manage a growing large-carnivore presence alongside farming and livestock protection. The canton has not publicly detailed in the supplied report how many of the authorisations have already been fulfilled, or how the permits are distributed among individual animals and packs.

The legal and practical debate involves several actors. The Cantonal Office for Hunting and Fisheries sets the local framework and oversees implementation. Hunters and gamekeepers carry out authorised shootings. Farmers face the day-to-day risk of livestock losses in alpine pastures, where protecting animals can be difficult because of terrain, weather and the size of grazing areas. Conservation advocates, meanwhile, have argued across Switzerland that wolves remain an important native species requiring careful management.

The available figures do not settle that dispute. They establish the pace of the Graubünden operation: 17 wolves in one month, against a current authorisation total of 61. They also show that the programme remains active well beyond the opening of the main hunting season. Further assessment would require data on livestock attacks, preventive measures, pack behaviour and the outcomes of previous culls. Those details are not included in the canton’s figures reported here.

Around 8,370 hoofed animals were shot during the reported September hunting period, providing a wider picture of the work taking place in Graubünden’s forests and mountain valleys. Hunters recorded approximately 3,070 chamois, 2,400 roe deer and 2,900 red deer. The totals for all three species were lower than the previous year, according to the Keystone-SDA report.

Chamois numbers fell by around 200 compared with the previous hunting season. The report does not give the precise year-on-year reductions for roe deer or red deer, nor does it link those changes directly to wolf activity, weather, habitat conditions or hunting rules. The figures should therefore be read as a snapshot of the season, rather than an explanation of population trends.

The comparison matters because wolf management takes place within the same landscape used by hunters, farmers, wildlife managers and visitors. Deer and chamois are part of the canton’s managed wildlife system, while wolves occupy a protected predator role subject to specific intervention rules. Placing the wolf total beside the ungulate figures shows the scale of the hunting season, but the categories remain distinct. The 17 wolves shot were part of an authorised cull, while the other totals represent harvests of game species during the canton’s hunting activity.

Two serious incidents marked the September hunting season, underlining the risks of working in steep Alpine terrain and the demands placed on hunters operating in the field. On September 8, a 66-year-old man died after falling in rough terrain in Val Lumnezia. The report provides no further details about the circumstances of the fall.

Four days earlier, on September 6, a hunter in Avers shot a horse in a meadow after mistaking it for a stag. Graubünden revoked the hunter’s licence on the spot. The incident did not involve a wolf, yet it sits within the same period as the authorised predator cull and highlights the need for precise identification and strict firearms discipline during a busy season.

The two cases also add important context to the statistics. Culling programmes depend on trained personnel, clear authorisations and safe field decisions. In Graubünden, hunters can take part in the wolf cull during the main and special hunting seasons, increasing the period in which authorised shooting may occur. The canton’s reported action against the hunter who shot the horse shows that breaches can trigger immediate consequences. The fatal fall remains a separate accident, with no reported connection to the wolf operation.

The next four months will determine how far Graubünden’s authorised cull proceeds. The operation can continue until the end of January, and the canton currently lists 61 wolves for possible removal. The final number shot will depend on field operations and the conditions attached to each authorisation, neither of which is detailed in the supplied report.

For Switzerland, the coming results will keep three policy pressures together: protecting livestock, maintaining viable wolf populations and giving cantons workable tools for responding to conflicts. Graubünden’s experience will be watched by other Alpine regions facing similar disputes over predators and pastoral farming. The national conversation has already included questions about how many wolves Switzerland can accommodate and how authorities should respond when livestock attacks occur.

Useful scrutiny will require more than a headline total. Authorities, farmers, hunters and conservation groups will need comparable information on the number of wolves present, livestock losses, preventive measures, pack structures and the reasons behind each permit. The September result provides a clear starting point: 17 wolves were shot in one month, while the authorised programme remains open. As winter advances, those figures will show how Switzerland’s revised large-carnivore policy operates on the ground in one of its most closely watched cantons.