First wolf spotted in canton

There have been previous reports that wolves have been spotted just over the cantonal borders, but now one has been spotted by a biologist specialising in wildlife in the Bostadel area of the canton. What is more, he was able to take a photograph of it.

“It was quite by chance that the biologist was in this area near Menzingen at the time and managed to take this photograph,” said Albin Schmidhauser, head of the Cantonal Office of Forestry and Wildlife (AWW), which confirmed, after consultation with the national Carnivore and Wildlife Management body (Kora) in Muri in the canton of Argovia, that the photograph taken on Tuesday 15 May was “highly likely” to be one of a wolf, and not least because on the day before the photograph was taken, one was spotted in Horgen, just over the cantonal border with Zurich, though, in this case, there was no proof in the way of footprints or droppings. It is not known whether it is the same one as spotted in Zug.

Wolves have also been sighted in other central Swiss cantons, namely Nidwalden, Obwalden, Schwyz, Lucerne and Uri, where, in some cases, livestock has been killed.

It is as a result of such previous sightings of wolves in neighbouring cantons that the canton of Zug has had a contingency plan in place for just such an incident since 2017. As Schmidhauser explained, this was worked out jointly between the AWW, the Office of Agriculture and the Schluechthof Agricultural College in Cham. “When a wolf is spotted, or it is highly likely one has been spotted, then the news is made public through local media in addition to livestock farmers being alerted by SMS,” he said.

It is now expected there will be further reports of sightings of wolves, those seen here likely to be young males on the look-out for a territory of their own.   

Schmidhauser went on to explain that wolves were rather timid animals and did not represent a danger to humans. “If you do come across one, do not approach it but step backwards to allow it to escape, and, if out with a dog, this should be put on a lead immediately,” he advised.

Members of the public who spot one, or who think they have spotted one, are kindly asked to call the police on 041 728 41 41 without delay.