Animal rights activists sound the alarm Lynx tore sheep from SVP National Councillor - now B903 is being shot

It has not killed enough animals to be killed according to the concept - and yet the shooting of lynx B903 is a done deal. The decision raises questions about animal ethics, political influence and the power structure in the Bernese Oberland.

Now it's official: the lynx with the number B903 must die. The decision to shoot the strictly protected predator is causing a stir across the country - and is further fueling the debate about political influence, animal ethics and farmers' interests.

The shooting order was made public in the Bernese official gazette - a veritable shot across the Swiss nature conservation scene. Because the fact is: according to the federal concept, B903 has not even reached the critical threshold of twelve farm animals killed. Nevertheless, the lynx can now be hunted down by a gamekeeper.

One lynx - many questions

How did it get this far? And why exactly this lynx? The trail leads deep into the heart of the Bernese Oberland - where agriculture, wilderness and politics come dangerously close together, as the "Berner Zeitung" reports.

Explosive: one of the most recent cracks occurred on the Ueschenen alp - on the property of SVP National Councillor Ernst Wandfluh. B903 is said to have killed several sheep there in August. Wandfluh confirms the incident to "Blick" - and admits to having "constructively lobbied" the authorities for a shooting permit. Talks with the Federal Council? "I haven't spoken to Albert Rösti about the lynx," he asserts.

The Federal Office for the Environment (FOEN) - responsible for approving such shootings - reports to SVP Federal Councillor Rösti, an old acquaintance from the same village as Wandfluh. And Rösti's brother Hans is also deeply rooted in the region as the long-standing president of the local alpine cooperative.

In addition, SVP National Councillor Thomas Knutti, an avowed opponent of large carnivores, had already loudly called for the cull months earlier. Following the approval, he has now doubled down: The lynx must be shot "as quickly as possible".

Official bodies play down

The canton of Bern and the Federal Office for the Environment defend the decision. They have classified the lynx as "specialized on livestock" - which, according to the concept, allows for an exceptional permit. Nevertheless, the suspicion remains: did political networks have a hand in deciding the death of a protected animal?

The Kora Foundation, which monitors lynxes scientifically, has known about the animal since Christmas 2022, when it fell into a photo trap in Reichenbach in the Kandertal valley. At first, B903 was an inconspicuous hunter - deer and chamois were on the menu. But from summer 2025, the picture changed radically: on the Tschingel Alp, it killed several sheep within a few days. Further kills followed - including in September, when two goats were killed.

Nevertheless, it had not reached the 12-animal mark that normally justifies a cull. "An exception for an exceptional lynx", say the authorities.

Protest from the animal protection camp

The organization Gruppe Wolf Schweiz is sharply critical: the decision is "highly problematic" and creates a "dangerous precedent", as the Berner Zeitung reports. A lynx is being killed even though it has not exceeded the official damage threshold - this opens the door to political arbitrariness.

A look into the past shows that lynxes caused heated debates back in the 1990s. In 1999, Switzerland recorded over 200 attacks on livestock. The cause at the time: a decline in the deer population forced the big cats to forage on farms.

Today, the numbers are significantly lower. In 2024, 112 farm animals fell victim to the lynx across Switzerland - 40 of them in the Alps and 72 in the Jura.

Is B903 just the tip of the iceberg? "We don't expect the conflicts to increase," says Kora Managing Director Nina Gerber to the Berner Zeitung newspaper. The canton also sees no cause for concern at present.