Geneva
The first wolf shot at the Marchairuz took place in the museum
A 3-year-old male, who had been shot in March 2022, was included in the Treasures exhibition at the Natural History Museum.
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Meet closely the “look” of a wolf who lived in the Vaudois Jura, an experience now offered by the Natural History Museum of Geneva.
MHNG
This 3-year-old male was shot in March 2021, as part of a regulation shooting authorized by the Confederation.
MHNG
He was entrusted to taxidermists.
MHNG
His body was only slightly damaged by the shooting to which he died.
MHNG
For the Museum, this specimen is exceptional because it is a wild wolf, and not a farmed one, which represents the stock that is currently colonizing our country.
MHNG
Subsequently identified under the code M233, this 3-year-old male was the first to be slaughtered as part of a regulation in the canton of Vaud. It later turned out that he was not part of the Marchairuz (VD) pack targeted, although he was fired upon in the same sector.
Monitoring Kora
The remains of M233, just after his death.
State of Vaud Archives
He was 3 years old and, one night in March 2021, he was shot near Montricher (VD). He was the first to pay the price the regulation desired by the cantonal authorities in order to limit the attacks committed by wolves in the pastures of the Vaudois Jura. A highly emotional situation, where breeders who have lost animals, sheep or young cattle, claimed the heads of predators while wolf defenders roamed the forests to try to prevent wildlife guards from shooting authorized by the Confederation. It will later turn out that this young male was not part of the Marchairuz pack which was targeted by this regulation.
Two years later, the one that was subsequently identified under the code of M233, entered the Geneva Natural History Museum (MHNG), after passing through the hands of taxidermists. In a press release, he is presented as an exceptional specimen, “on the one hand because he is a wild wolf, and not from a breeding, and on the other hand because he is a representative of the strain that is currently colonizing Switzerland, which is no longer the same as the one that ended up being exterminated during the 19th and 20th centuries,” comments Manuel Ruedi, curator of mammalogy at the museum. He, like his congeners who are currently in Switzerland, is a descendant of the wolves who survived in the Apennines, in Italy.
Raise awareness
This newcomer therefore has its place in the context of the “Treasures” exhibition, which traces the life of the institution’s scientific collections. Who hopes that his presence will help raise awareness so that the wolf is no longer seen “as a fearsome creature prowling at night and preying on livestock and children”. M233 is moreover presented in a non-aggressive posture, which invites to admire it and to get to know it, rather than to be afraid of it. Visitors will have every opportunity to cross his “look”, the fruit of the admirable work carried out by the people responsible for “bringing him back to life”, in particular thanks to the glass eyes with which the remains of the wolf have been endowed.
If this young male could be supported by taxidermists in order to be exposed, it is because he succumbed to a “clean” shot. Hit in the heart, the wolf had only one wound easy to conceal. “In addition, it is presented to the public from the side which has not been damaged by the shooting”, notes Manuel Ruedi.
For about thirty years, the wolf has been seen again in Switzerland and, in 2012, a first pair settled on our territory. Since then, the wolf population has continued to increase and there are many packs, as well as isolated individuals. In French-speaking Switzerland, they are particularly present in the Jura arc and in Valais.
2023-04-18 16:21:29
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