Criminal investigation in the canton of Graubünden Gamekeeper kills protected lynx - he mistook them for wolves

Two young lynx and one adult lynx were shot by a gamekeeper during a night-time operation to regulate wolves. The gamekeeper has filed a voluntary report.

On November 16, a gamekeeper mistakenly shot three lynx during a wolf control operation. At the time of the incident, the gamekeeper, who has his area of supervision outside the shooting perimeter, was on a wolf control mission in the Surselva on behalf of the Office for Hunting and Fishing (AJF). He was looking for the remaining three of eight wolf pups from the preliminary pack that had been released for shooting at the beginning of September.

The three animals discovered were identified during the night using thermal imaging technology. The gamekeeper was firmly convinced that he was shooting the three young wolves in question, which were in the area. The gamekeeper reported the incident to his superiors immediately after finding the mistakenly shot lynxes. The animals shot were two young lynx from this year and one adult male lynx.

Foreign lynxes could now be coming

The gamekeeper filed a voluntary report with the public prosecutor's office of the canton of Graubünden. The circumstances that led to these false shootings are being investigated as part of the criminal investigation. The public prosecutor's office will decide on any criminal consequences. "We deeply regret the incident and will investigate it in detail," says Adrian Arquint, Head of the Hunting and Fishing Office. The office is aware that something like this should not happen. The AJF has excluded the gamekeeper from wolf regulation with immediate effect until the incident has been fully clarified.

The Eurasian lynx is protected under federal law and is considered a species of very high national priority. At least seven lynx reproductions were confirmed in the canton of Graubünden in the summer of 2024, but individual losses can affect the structure of the population. The canton is therefore now examining with the Federal Office for the Environment (FOEN) whether the damage caused to the population should be compensated for by a one-off introduction of a comparable number of lynx from a foreign population.