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 for the Environment 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 for the Environment 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.

Liechtenstein is closely aligned with Swiss enforcement practice in both large carnivore management and livestock protection. The livestock owner is generally responsible for livestock protection measures on domestic and alpine pastures. Livestock owners in Liechtenstein as well as alpine cooperatives receive free herd protection advice in Liechtenstein. This is carried out by specialists from the Herd Protection Office of the Agricultural Center St. Gallen (LZSG) and is individually tailored to the farm.

The most important and most common herd protection measure is an electrified fence with a minimum height of 90 cm (as a basic safety measure, fences with a height of at least 105 cm are recommended, especially on slopes) and a minimum voltage of 3,000 volts. The lowest wire should be no more than 15 cm from the ground and should not touch the ground or grass (mow out or cut free the vegetation). Depending on the situation, willow netting or five stranded wires are used. Knotted fences can be fitted with two additional live wires in accordance with the information sheet.

Appointments for herd protection advice can be arranged via the Office for the Environment Olivier Nägele (+423 236 64 02) or directly via the LZSG, Sven Baumgartner (+41 79 431 73 85).

Subsidies in Liechtenstein are based on the Ordinance on the Prevention of and Compensation for Damage Caused by Specifically Protected Animal Species (VVSV).

In Liechtenstein, the following contributions are paid towards livestock protection measures:

• CHF 2.- per running meter of pasture netting (blue and white, minimum height 105 cm);
• CHF 0.80 per linear meter per year for pasture netting with a minimum height of 105 cm or pasture fencing with at least five strands, due to the difficulty of maintenance;
• 50% of the costs for electrifying pasture fences with stop wires, shelter wires, or jump wires;
• 100% of the costs for pasture fence energizers, up to a maximum of CHF 960.- per unit;

The AU generally recommends not using orange pasture nets, as these are difficult to see for both livestock and wild animals. Contrasting colors (blue and white) are recommended.

Orange willow nets can therefore no longer be remunerated with immediate effect.
Please refer to the information sheet "Wolf protection fences on small livestock pastures" under "Overview of the most important information sheets for livestock farmers".

Wolf packs have been established for several years, particularly in the neighboring cantons of Graubünden and St. Gallen. As a result, wolves can be expected in Liechtenstein at any time and in any location. For you as an animal owner, this means that the reasonable herd protection measures listed below should be implemented.

For sheep and goats, New World camelids (llamas and alpacas), free-range pigs, and deer in enclosures, electric fences are the most important measure for protecting livestock.

The electric fence serves several functions:    
- Preventing your own livestock or pets from escaping  
- Preventing large predators from entering the herd     
- Preventing the learning effect that livestock represent easily available food for wolves → negative conditioning through electric shock

In the absence of wolves, it was not always necessary—depending on the animal species—to maintain a minimum voltage of 3,000 volts or more to prevent one’s own animals from escaping the fencing system. Given the current wolf pressure, it is crucial to have both high-quality fencing material and a sufficiently powerful electric fence energizer.

When wolves are present, they often exhibit exploratory behavior at fences, looking for places to crawl under or through. Sometimes wolves also try to dig their way under a fence. Individual wolves learn to overcome livestock protection measures by jumping over a fence in order to reach livestock; these wolves are classified as “damage-causing” and may be culled under certain conditions (see Chapter “4.5 Measures against individual damage-causing wolves” and “4.6 Measures against wolf packs in cases of major damage or significant threat” in the Liechtenstein Wolf Concept).

The Liechtenstein Livestock Guarding Dogs Directive regulates the requirements for keeping livestock guarding dogs subsidized by the Principality of Liechtenstein as well as the corresponding contribution amounts.

The mandate to develop this directive is based on Art. 6 of the Ordinance on the Prevention of and Compensation for Damage Caused by Specifically Protected Animal Species (VVSV).
The directive was approved by the government on July 11, 2023.

In principle, the implementation of herd protection measures is the responsibility of each livestock owner. Sheep and goats are particularly at risk from attacks by wolves; more than 90% of all wolf attacks affect these two animal species. The most important and most common herd protection measure is an electrified fence with a minimum height of 90 cm (as a basic safety measure, fences with a height of at least 105 cm are recommended, especially on slopes) and a minimum voltage of 3,000 volts. The lowest wire should be no more than 15 cm from the ground and should not touch the ground or grass (mow out or cut free the vegetation). Depending on the situation, willow nets or at least four stranded wires are used.

The following subsidies are available to support herd protection measures for small livestock:

• CHF 2.- per linear meter of pasture netting (blue and white, minimum height 105 cm);
• CHF 0.80 per linear meter per year for pasture netting with a minimum height of 105 cm or pasture fencing with at least five strands, due to the difficulty of maintenance;
• 50% of the costs for electrifying pasture fences with stop wires, shelter wires, or jump wires;
• 100 % of the costs of pasture fencing equipment, up to a maximum of CHF 960.- per device

- Electrified fences are also considered reasonable for New World camelids (llamas and alpacas), free-range pigs and deer in enclosures.

- In the case of cattle and horses, it is considered reasonable to monitor the mother animal and her young during the birth process, to keep them together on supervised pastures for the first two weeks of their lives and to remove afterbirths or dead young animals immediately.

- In principle, all farm animals that are kept in stables or on paved outdoor areas on the premises of the farm are considered to be protected.

As part of the project "Fence effectiveness for protection against wolves", a study was carried out with enclosure wolves. The results of the project were realized in the film "Wolf protection fence for small livestock".

Film "Wolf protection fence for small livestock"

The contents listed in the information sheets are exemplary recommendations. A herd protection consultation is recommended for measures tailored to your own farm.

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 for the Environment must be contacted immediately.

To make it easier to contact the AU 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 for the Environment 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 for the Environment 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"