The return of the wolf to intensively used cultivated landscapes represents a major challenge for species conservation. Wolves get on extremely well with the living conditions in cultivated landscapes, which brings with it considerable potential for conflict. Unprotected livestock herds are repeatedly affected by damage caused by wolves. For some people, the presence of wolves causes discomfort or even a feeling of fear. Sophisticated conflict solutions and measures to minimize conflicts are therefore the most important protection efforts for wolves.

In accordance with Art. 28d of the Nature and Landscape Conservation Act, the Office of Forests, Nature and Agriculture develops management concepts for specifically protected animal species with the involvement of the stakeholders. On July 9, 2019, the government approved the Wolf Liechtenstein concept.
The concept is to be understood as an instrument that serves to prevent and minimize conflicts and thus plays a key role in enabling humans and wolves to live together in an orderly and low-conflict manner.

Following a public consultation, the revised concept was approved by the government on July 11, 2023.
The most relevant change to the consultation version of the Swiss Wolf Concept concerns measures against individual wolves that cause damage. The damage threshold is reduced from 15 to 6. In the case of animals of the cattle or horse species and New World camelids, major damage and thus the possibility of a wolf cull exists if at least one animal has been killed or seriously injured.
In addition to the definition of these new damage thresholds, the most important changes in the Wolf Concept Liechtenstein are as follows:
- So-called reasonable herd protection measures are designated for all animal species.
- The designation of alpine pastures or parts of alps that cannot reasonably be protected will be determined in the course of the herd protection consultation.

The Office of Forests, Nature and Agriculture records the situation found and, for example, in the case of a scat find, takes genetic samples from the wolf litter, which can be used to precisely identify the suspected large carnivore at an individual level.

The entire population must ensure that all food sources accessible to wolves, such as garbage bags stored outdoors, garbage bins, pet food or food leftovers on accessible compost heaps, are avoided. Wolves must not be attracted to openly accessible, potential food.

Further behavioral recommendations can be found in the following leaflets:

The Herd Protection SG contact point informs the affected regions by SMS. In regions with a permanent presence of large carnivores, the need for notifications is limited to the most important ones. The SMS messages sent are based on reliable evidence and corresponding SCALP categories C1 and C2 (definition below). For data protection reasons, livestock owners must actively register to be included in the SMS reporting system.
Contact: Olivier Nägele (+423 236 64 02)

Wolf records in the neighboring canton of St. Gallen since 17.04.2022 are published on the website of the Office for Nature, Hunting and Fishing and can be accessed via the following link:

Wolf records in the canton of St. Gallen

Wolf records in the neighboring canton of Graubünden are published on the website of the Office for Hunting and Fishing and can be accessed via the following link:

Wolf records in the canton of Graubünden

Reports submitted as part of wolf monitoring are evaluated and divided into 3 categories according to their significance and verifiability. The so-called SCALP criteria are used for this. These were developed for the "Conservation of the Alpine Lynx Population" (SCALP) project with the aim of standardized, transnational lynx monitoring in the Alps so that the reference data can be compared with each other. These criteria were also adopted for evidence of wolves and bears.

Category C1 evidence - the C stands for "Category" - is reliable evidence ("hard facts") that clearly confirms the presence of an animal. This category includes (unambiguous) photos, genetic evidence (saliva, droppings), dead finds, live catches or data from telemetry tracking.

Category C2 evidence is confirmed evidence by persons with appropriate training. This involves cracks (livestock and wild animals) and tracks that can be checked and confirmed in the field or by means of meaningful documentation.

Category C3 evidence is unconfirmed evidence; evidence of the predator in question can neither be confirmed nor ruled out, e.g. if the evidence is too old, insufficient or incompletely documented. C3 evidence includes unverified or unverifiable cracks, tracks and droppings and also all unverifiable evidence such as vocalizations or visual observations without photo or video evidence. The category can be divided into sub-categories such as "probable" and "improbable".

Random observations from the public are an important source of information, as many people are out and about in the wolf's habitat every day. Among the C3 reports, there are always those where an animal is mistaken for a wolf. Nevertheless, such reports are important for the Office for the Environment and are routinely recorded in a database. In combination with C2 or C1 detections, C3 reports can also provide important information on the probable appearance and behavior of wolves.

If a large carnivore is suspected of having injured or killed a farm animal or if the presence of a lynx or wolf is suspected (direct observations, tracks, droppings), the Office of Forests, Nature and Agriculture must be contacted immediately.

To make it easier to contact the AWNL in the event of livestock attacks in Liechtenstein, the mobile number +423 799 40 37 has been set up. Please use this number (7 days a week) in the event of an incident.

The carcass must be left unchanged so as not to cover any tracks, and both dogs and livestock must be kept away from the carcass until the Office of Forests, Nature and Agriculture arrives.

The Environment Agency records the situation found and, in the event of a bite, takes genetic samples that can be used to precisely identify the suspected large carnivore at an individual level. The Office of Forests, Nature and Agriculture is also responsible for compensating livestock that have been killed.

The Herd Protection Service SG, which provides herd protection advice in Liechtenstein, can initiate immediate measures in the event of a large carnivore attack.

Livestock protection | sg.ch
Short film "Herd protection operation"