Protect the sheep from the wolf or the wolf from the man or is there a way to do both, asks Bern
BERN, SWITZERLAND – Bring up hunting and fishing, protecting the environment and the population’s growing use of nature areas, and you can expect passions to rise quickly. This is exactly what the Swiss government found when it put out for public consultation its proposed changes to hunting and fishing laws, the first in 25 years.
The changes, announced in April 2011, would provide wildlife populations with greater protection from human activities, especially leisure use of the outdoors, by creating nature reserve zones.
The new law would provide a number of birds with greater protection, starting with a ban on buckshot with lead to hunt fowl, improved measures to prevent the introduction of non-native animals and longer periods where hunting is not allowed, to protect native species, including carrion crows, jays and magpies. Hunters will be able to go after rooks, on the other hand, because their growing European population is a problem.
Populations and hunting measures for protected animal species, including lynx, wolves and beavers, will be regulated on a regional basis if they are causing too much damage, under the new law—with the stipulation that their populations must be large and stable enough to maintain the diversity of species. Any such measures by cantons must have prior federal government approval.
The consultation period ended 15 July and Bern is now grappling with the thorny problem of how to take into account some 80 strongly voiced and opposing points of view from several organization and individuals, especially over the issue of predatory animals.
Cantonal and federal bodies are mostly in agreement with the proposed changes, according to Detec (the federal department for the environment, energy, transport and communications). Farmers, hunters, fishermen and animal protection groups have come out strongly against specific aspects of the law, but often for diametrically opposed reasons.
Switzerland is home to the Bern Convention, which protects wolves, but the country has also been the scene of an ongoing battle between animal rights groups and farmers, particularly in canton Valais, where the small wolf population has cost farmers by going after herds of sheep.
A group of llamas and goats from an Australian circus that were stolen from the pound where police put them has been the big news story in Ireland Friday and Saturday 2-3 October, although more than 50 percent of eligible voters did turn their attention to the referendum on the European Union long enough to vote. The votes are being counted at Dublin Castle Saturday morning with 516 accredited media organizations from around the world in attendance. Ireland is the only country to hold a referendum on the Lisbon Treaty.
Meanwhile, unaware perhaps of the key vote, a group of three goats and five llamas “ran wild” on the M50 motorway near Dublin Thursday noon after their gate at the Australian Circus Sydney, staying at Tallaght, was left open. Police took in the errant animals and put them in a pound, demanding €5,500 for their return. During the night hard-working thieves took the animals, reports the Irish Times: “The thieves traversed eight fields, opened up ditches and travelled two kilometres on foot to the shed where the animals were being kept.” The owner, who says he did not know where the animals were being kept by police, suspects animal rights activists. He says the tamed animals are worth at least €2,000 each, but are useless except to circuses.
Links to other sites: Irish votes live on Irish Times
Basel, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Austrian police are investigating a case of possible arson at a hunting lodge in Bach, Austria, near Innsbruck, that belongs to Daniel Vasella, CEO of phamaceutical giant Novartis. More than 100 firemen put out the blaze, which witnesses say broke out early 3 August out after a dull explosion was heard at the property. According to a Novartis spokesperson, a “professional fire accelerator” was used.
