It’s official: From now on, hobby hunters from abroad will no longer be allowed to hunt ibex in Valais.

However, 25 day permits have still been issued to foreigners this year. 

Starting next year, foreigners will no longer be allowed to hunt ibex trophies in Valais . Only hobby hunters residing in the canton of Valais or those with a Valais hunting license will be allowed to hunt ibex.

The Canton of Valais decision as part of a five-year resolution, as it announced on Friday, August 28, 2020. Last autumn, media reports about wealthy foreigners shooting ibex in Valais sparked controversy.

For the canton, trophy hunting has been a lucrative offshoot until now, bringing in several hundred thousand francs annually. Swiss and foreign nationals can purchase a so-called day permit and shoot ibex in Valais. Depending on the length of the horns, they pay up to 20,000 francs.

Ibex hunting: 25 permits still issued to foreigners

For 2020, the Federal Office for the Environment (FOEN) has approved the regulation plan submitted by the Department for Hunting, Fishing and Wildlife (DJFW). This plan provides for the harvest of a maximum of 544 ibex (269 males and 275 females). Of these, 323 will be harvested by the Valais hunters as part of the regular regulation hunt. The remaining quota will be collected through daily hunting permits, 40th-year-old licensed kills, and any gamekeeper-related kills. For mature males (eleven years and older), the FOEN has approved the harvest of a maximum of 56. The DJFW has issued 45 special daily hunting permits for mature males this year, 25 of which are to foreign hunters. 

In 2021, and with the entry into force of the new five-year resolution 2021-2025, ibex control will be carried out exclusively by hunters residing in Valais or holders of a Valais hunting license. Restricting the group of hunters authorized to control ibex will reduce the workload of gamekeepers, as the supervision and support of foreign hunters who hold a day hunting permit will no longer be necessary. The elimination of this segment will thus allow for savings in personnel resources, which will partially offset the constantly increasing workload for large predators. The proposed change in practice will not affect hunting license prices in the Canton of Valais.

Children and young people must be protected from all forms of violence. The passive and active participation of children and young people in hunting activities is therefore prohibited. The Convention on the Rights of the Child includes, among other things, the right of all minors to physical and mental integrity. At the same time, it stipulates the state’s duty to guarantee the protection of these rights. In the area of hunting, recreational hunters notoriously violate this duty.

November 12, 2023, 10:34 a.m., IG Wild editorial team at Wild

Seeing wild animals terrorized, shot, or otherwise slaughtered is undoubtedly traumatic for children. It can be psychologically devastating for young people, who often have a natural empathy for animals.

Witnessing animals being killed for human entertainment can deeply disturb young people and desensitize them to animal suffering. It teaches children that the lives of others are not valuable and that it is acceptable—even enjoyable—to inflict pain and torture on them.

There is a proven link between animal cruelty in childhood and antisocial behavior in adulthood. According to a study published in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, witnessing cruelty or neglect can lead children to abuse humans and other animals in the future.

Hunts are terrible for children and animals

Animals killed for sport by recreational hunters have the same capacity to suffer and feel pain as the dogs and cats with whom we share our homes—indeed, as humans do. Seeing wild animals terrorized, shot, or otherwise slaughtered is undeniably traumatic for children. For young people, most of whom have a natural empathy for animals, this can leave psychological scars. This is especially concerning given that sociological studies have found that violent and aggressive criminals invariably begin their abuse by abusing animals.

Join the campaign

To help young people develop properly, we must take measures to protect them from witnessing violence against animals.

Join the campaign and sign the petition addressed to decision-makers in the cantons.

Please also call on the government to ban children from participating in hunting!

As the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child has stated, it is crucial for the development of young people that we take measures to protect them from witnessing acts of violence against animals. We urge you to follow the Committee’s recommendation and prohibit children from participating in hunting.

Call on the government to respect children’s rights.

You can also email the petition text to the politician or party of your choice yourself.

petition

Children must be protected from violence during hunting

Dear decision-makers

The appeal of the highest international body for the rights of minors calls on states to protect minors from the “harmful effects of violence”.

In a very welcome development, the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child adopted General Comment 26 on 23 August 2023.

Children and young people must be protected from all forms of violence. The passive and active participation of children and young people in hunting activities is therefore prohibited. The Convention on the Rights of the Child includes, among other things, the right of all minors to physical and mental integrity. At the same time, it stipulates the state’s duty to guarantee the protection of these rights. In the area of hunting, recreational hunters notoriously violate this duty.

When considering the impacts on children caused by various forms of animal abuse, it is implicitly acknowledged that children are affected by experiencing violence from a culture of abuse because they have an empathetic connection to an animal’s feelings. As the UN Committee confirmed, this is independent of the species. Studies show that children’s empathy is negatively affected by experiencing violence against animals and, over time, come to view this as normal.

“Children must be protected from all forms of physical and psychological violence and from exposure to violence, such as domestic violence or violence against animals” – UN Committee on the Rights of the Child

The Committee, which is responsible for monitoring the implementation of the Convention, issues general comments on various child-related issues to which it believes States parties should pay more attention. With General Comment 26, the Committee aims to reassure States that protecting children from violence against animals is essential to upholding children’s rights.

Hobby hunters have no educational vocation, yet they proselytize even in elementary schools. Hobby hunters’ vision of nature has nothing to do with ethics, biology, ecology, or animal protection—quite the opposite!

There is no other association in Switzerland whose members are verifiably involved in four-figure annual violations of the law, such as violations of hunting laws, poaching, arms smuggling, environmental crimes, animal welfare violations, traffic offenses, corruption, and numerous other criminal activities, as is the case with the Swiss Hunting Association, to which hobby hunters belong. Practically everything that is cruel, unnecessary, and heartless is promoted by the Swiss Hunting Association , a court in Bellinzona .

The explicit mention by the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child is an important step in ensuring that animal cruelty such as hunting is considered unacceptable.

Switzerland has a human rights obligation to protect children from all forms of violence.

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