Government Council BS 1.3 million for measures against deer in Basel's Hörnli cemetery

SDA

10.9.2024 - 15:18

According to the canton, no more deer have been sighted at the Hörnli cemetery. (archive picture)
According to the canton, no more deer have been sighted at the Hörnli cemetery. (archive picture)
Keystone

The canton of Basel-Stadt is continuing to arm itself against the intrusion of deer into the Hörnli cemetery. The Basel government is asking the Grand Council for just under 1.3 million francs for two measures. No more deer have been sighted since the last relocation campaign in the Jura.

The money will be used to repair the fencing at the Hörnli cemetery and install an automatic locking system at the entrance gates, as the Basel government announced on Tuesday.

The relocation campaigns carried out this year and in 2023 in the canton of Jura were successful, according to the press release. Currently, no more deer have been sighted.

The deer caused unrest at Switzerland's largest cemetery for several years: in 2020, when the cemetery gardeners had counted around 25 animals, the canton of Basel-Stadt wanted to have the animals shot. The reason: visitors to the cemetery were bothered by the fact that the animals were eating the grave decorations.

However, the plans to shoot the animals caused a huge wave of outrage. A petition with 80,000 signatures finally led to the canton abandoning its final plans and around 60 deer were relocated to the canton of Jura by the Fondation Franz Weber.

SDA