Bern OKs shooting of sheep-eating lynx
Authorities in the canton of Bern have authorized the shooting of a wild lynx that has been poaching sheep in the Kander Valley.
Wildlife officials from the canton made the decision in consultation with those in the cantons of Fribourg and Vaud, as well as the federal office of the environment, the ATS news agency reported on Monday.
The female lynx killed six sheep between June 22nd and July 4th.
Betrayed by its radio transmitter collar, the pointy-eared wild cat attacked three different herds in the municipality of Kandergrund, the Bern cantonal office of agriculture and nature said.
According to the guidelines governing the management of lynx, a specimen can be ordered destroyed if it kills 15 livestock animals over a one-year period within a perimeter of five kilometres.
In this case, while the conditions are not fulfilled, the destruction of this animal is inevitable, cantonal officials said.
The lynx has preyed specifically on sheep and it is not possible to rapidly put into place the measures needed to protect other sheep in the area in question, the canton said.
The animal can only be shot by a wildlife officer in the canton of Bern.
The lynx was found orphaned and emaciated in the autumn of 2012 before being taken to the Landshut foundation’s wildlife facility at Utzenstorf in the canton of Bern.
It was nursed back to health before being released in May in the Diemtigen region of Bern.
Lynx were hunted to extinction in Switzerland by 1915 before being reintroduced in 1971.
There are now more than 100 of the animals in the country, according to estimates.
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Wildlife officials from the canton made the decision in consultation with those in the cantons of Fribourg and Vaud, as well as the federal office of the environment, the ATS news agency reported on Monday.
The female lynx killed six sheep between June 22nd and July 4th.
Betrayed by its radio transmitter collar, the pointy-eared wild cat attacked three different herds in the municipality of Kandergrund, the Bern cantonal office of agriculture and nature said.
According to the guidelines governing the management of lynx, a specimen can be ordered destroyed if it kills 15 livestock animals over a one-year period within a perimeter of five kilometres.
In this case, while the conditions are not fulfilled, the destruction of this animal is inevitable, cantonal officials said.
The lynx has preyed specifically on sheep and it is not possible to rapidly put into place the measures needed to protect other sheep in the area in question, the canton said.
The animal can only be shot by a wildlife officer in the canton of Bern.
The lynx was found orphaned and emaciated in the autumn of 2012 before being taken to the Landshut foundation’s wildlife facility at Utzenstorf in the canton of Bern.
It was nursed back to health before being released in May in the Diemtigen region of Bern.
Lynx were hunted to extinction in Switzerland by 1915 before being reintroduced in 1971.
There are now more than 100 of the animals in the country, according to estimates.
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