Swiss spell out 'bear' necessities for living with nature

By Heather Lima Jul 29, 2006, 2:37 GMT

Geneva - Brown bears and human beings should be able to live in harmony under the Swiss Environment Agency's new 'shoot-to-kill' policy which at first may seem hard to accept.

It is the starting point of a newly enshrined 'friendship' which depends on bears keeping a low profile and humans resisting the urge to encourage them by feeding them.

Reinhard Schnidrig, head of the hunting and game division at the Swiss Environment Agency, explained that bears now fell into three categories in Switzerland: 'discreet', 'problematic' and 'high-risk.'

'A high-risk bear would be shot by specially trained gamekeepers after discussions between the cantons and the Environment Agency,' said Schnidrig.

A 'problematic' bear was not afraid of humans. The agency has trained experts to shoot these with plastic bullets to stun them and put them to sleep.

They would then be fitted with tracking devices. A series of scare tactics, such as dogs on long leads or loud noises would be used to teach the animals to fear humans once again.

If the tactics failed, and the bear proved a threat to the human population three times, then it would be judged 'high-risk.'

Bears, along with wolves and lynx, were hunted to extinction in the Alps in the 19th century. The last recorded bear killing in Switzerland was in 1904.

But last year a brown bear found its way into south east Switzerland for the first time in a century. It is thought to have crossed over from Italy. It killed a calf and over 20 sheep.

Last week a farmer reported seeing a brown bear in the canton of Grisons but the department's gamekeepers found no signs to back up his claims.

The Swiss bear, 'JJ2,' was a brother of 'Bruno' or 'JJ1' which was shot dead in Bavaria last month causing some disquiet among animal lovers and conservation groups.

There are an estimated 50,000 brown bears living in Europe, mainly in Russia and Scandinavia, with other large numbers in the Balkans and Romania.

There are small populations living in northern Italy and central Austria where the authorities have launched breeding programmes in the past 15 years, introducing bears from Croatia and Slovenia. There are now an estimated 25 bears in Austria and around ten in Italy.

'It is the young males from these new colonies that are migrating looking for new territory or a mate,' said Schnidrig.

In Switzerland, the government has come under pressure from farmers to make it easier to control bears.

'We believe people and bears can live in harmony but the farmers do not accept that. They do not believe it is possible to have even one, two or a few bears in Switzerland,' explained Schnidrig.

'But the bear is an indigenous species and is protected by law and that is something we can't change. That would be a matter for parliament.'

'After the experience in Bavaria we wanted to be ready with a plan for dealing with bears. We did not want to be caught out or our hand forced by the media,' added Schnidrig.

'Public safety is our number one consideration and Bruno would definitely have fallen into the high-risk category as far as we are concerned.'

He added: 'We believe that, with the breeding programmes in Italy and Austria, there could be more bears, not fewer, in Switzerland in the future.'

The Swiss Bear Policy has been drawn up with the involvement of not only farmers and hunters but the Worldwide Fund for Nature (WWF).

'We are happy that this document will help the population prepare for the arrival of this great predator and allow man and bear to co- exist,' said Joanna Schoenenberger, head of the Bear Project for the WWF, Switzerland.