The History of the Brown Bear in Switzerland
The brown bear has been considered extinct in Switzerland since 1904, after gradually disappearing from the Swiss Plateau, the Jura mountains and the Alps. The main causes were the uncontrolled hunting, increasingly sophisticated weapon technology, and the densification of human settlements. Since 2005, individual animals have been returning from the Italian Trentino, marking the return of the brown bear to Switzerland.
The History of Extermination
History of the bear in the Swiss Plateau
The extermination of bears in Switzerland is well documented. Prof. Dr. Kurt Eiberle meticulously compiled bear data from nearly five centuries. This is how we know that bear sightings in the Swiss Plateau declined as early as the 15th century. By the 18th century at the latest, bears gradually disappeared from the Swiss Plateau. The last sighting in the Swiss Plateau dates back to 1743 (Riggisberg, BE), with the bear population now limited to the Jura and the Alps. On the northern side of the Alps, the last bear was reported in 1848 at Lac de Taney (VS). Their disappearance from lower altitudes is likely to be related, among other things, to the fact that these regions were more densely populated by humans and the population was better armed, whereas the rough terrain of the Alps and the Jura, which was less used by humans, offered better protection for the bears. Actual bear-hunts and bounties by the communities accelerated the extermination. Historical records show that these bounties served to combat bears as harmful predators rather than animals dangerous to humans.
Bear hunting Bear hunting
© Swiss National Archives
History of the bear in the Jura and the Alps
The brown bear managed to remain in the Jura and the western Central Alps (Valais) somewhat longer than in the Plateau. The last sightings originate from the canton of Neuchâtel in 1861 (Creux du Van) and in 1870 in Val d’Anniviers (VS). From then on, its presence was limited to the southeastern parts of the country – mainly the Engadine and the southern side of the Alps (southern valleys of the Grisons and eastern Ticino). In the mid-19th century, bear hunting in the eastern Central Alps reached its peak. Between 1840 and 1880, at least 136 bears were killed in the Grisons. Although this region, with its elevations and the highest tree-line of Switzerland, offered suitable conditions for bears, a long-term survival was hardly possible.
One reason was the uncontrolled hunting with increasingly sophisticated weapons, which enabled the humans to pursue bears even into inaccessible mountain regions. A slight increase of bear sightings at higher altitudes was noted in the eastern and southern Alps, but there was no real increase in the population. The last brown bear shot in Switzerland was on 1 September 1904 in Val S-Charl in the Grisons, when two chamois hunters killed a 116 kg female bear.
The last bear The last bear
© Foto Rauch
Most Recent Records of Brown Bears by Region
Most recent records of brown bears by region (KORA 2005)
| Biogeographic macro-regions | general record | shoot | juveniles |
| Jura | 1864 | 1855 | 1859 |
| Central Plateau | 1743 | 1743 | 1734 |
| Northern Alpine flank | 1848 | 1848 | 1804 |
| Central Alps West | 1870 | 1865 | 1836 |
| Central Alps East | 1923 | 1904 | 1919 |
| Southern Alpine flank | 1910 | 1903 | 1910 |
The Return of the Bear to Switzerland
101 years later, on 28 July 2005, the first brown bear returned to Switzerland. A student happened to photograph a bear while conducting fieldwork in the Swiss National Park area. The reappearance of bears in Switzerland is thanks to a population reinforcement project in Italy and various pioneers. Among others, the well-known Swiss bear researcher Hans-Ulrich Roth worked intensively with Alpine bears in the Italian Trentino region in the 1980s and endeavoured to save the species.
Distribution from 2005 to November 2025
© KORA
At the end of the 1990s, conservation efforts finally took concrete shape, and between 1999 and 2002 Italy reinforced its small remaining population in Trentino with 10 bears from Slovenia. It was clear that sooner or later bears would reappear in Switzerland. However, the fact that this happened as early as 2005 even came as a surprise to some experts. The «Life Ursus» project, which was completed in 2004, was very successful: By 2024, there were around 100 bears living in Trentino. Since 2005, bears have visited Switzerland almost every year for a more or less short period of time. As expected by the brown bear's dispersal behaviour and according to genetic analyses, only young males have been found in Switzerland so far. Various studies show a clear gender-specific difference in dispersing behaviour. Males disperse earlier and further, while females mostly remain in their natal home range or, at most, disperse only short distances.
M29 – a remarkable story
M29 was genetically identified in Switzerland for the first time in 2017. A comparison of its DNA with data from Italy revealed that this bear was born in 2013 in the Adamello Brenta Nature Park as the son of F09 and MJ5. In September 2014, he was genetically identified for the first time in the northern part of the province of Brescia in Italy and given the code M29: M stands for his sex, and the number corresponds to a sequential numbering of genetically identified individuals of one sex. Most likely M29 crossed the Swiss border in the Splügen Pass region at the end of April 2016 and was photographed by a mountaineer at around 2900 meters above sea level. He crossed the Surselva into central Switzerland and then into the Bernese Oberland before leaving Switzerland again via the Valais in 2019. Since then, he has been living as a loner west of Lake Maggiore in Italy. Since the first bear visits in modern times, M29 has been the only bear to have stayed in Switzerland outside the canton of Grisons. Throughout his stay, he behaved very discreetly and shyly, and there were correspondingly few sightings and hardly any damage recorded. However, there were some spectacular sightings, for example when he was observed on the Sustenhorn or on the Walcherengrat above the Aletsch Glacier.
You can find out more details about his journey through Switzerland by clicking on the individual points on the map.
JJ3 – the first bear fitted with a GPS collar
In the summer of 2007, the one-and-a-half-year-old male bear JJ3 dispersed to Switzerland after spending the previous weeks in South Tyrol. He owes his name to his parents: He was the third offspring of Jurka and Joze. From the beginning, he showed little shyness and soon there were the first reports of livestock being killed. On 12 August of the same year, game wardens from the canton of Grisons managed to capture him and fit him with a GPS collar. This allowed his movements to be tracked more accurately. Before he went into hibernation, the game wardens carried out various deterrent measures to keep him away from settlements and farm animals. In the spring, however, he soon reappeared in settlements, and it became apparent that JJ3 was not so easy to be re-educated. Although JJ3 never behaved aggressively, the danger he posed to humans ultimately left no other option but to shoot him.
On April 14, 2008, he was shot near the Galspass. He had learned his undesirable behaviour early on from his mother Jurka. She was one of the female bears that had been brought from Slovenia to Trentino in Italy in 2001 as part of the EU Life Project «Life Ursus» to refresh the bear population there. However, she had probably already been fed by humans in Slovenia, which reduced her shyness over time. She later passed this behaviour on to her cubs. As a result, JJ1 (Bruno) in Germany and JJ3 in Switzerland were shot because of their conspicuous behaviour. JJ2 (Lumpaz) – the first «Swiss bear» – was probably poached in Italy. Jurka was captured in Italy in 2007 and has been living in a bear park in the Black Forest since 2010. Her daughter JJ4 was also captured in 2023 and lives in the same bear park as her mother after killing a jogger in Trentino in early April 2023.
Our Reports on Bears
Zajec P., Zimmermann F., Roth H.U. & Breitenmoser U. 2005. The return of the Brown bear to Switzerland – Suitable habitat distribution, corridors and potential conflicts. KORA Bericht Nr. 28e, 31 pp.
only in German:
Capt S., Lüps P., Nigg H. & Fivaz F. 2005. Relikt oder geordneter Rückzug ins Réduit – Fakten zur Ausrottungsgeschichte des Braunbären Ursus arctos in der Schweiz. KORA Bericht Nr. 24, 30 pp.
More Information
- The graphics were created using data from the hunting authorities of the following cantons: GR, VS, UR, SZ, NW, OW, BE.
- Figure M29: For the figure, a number of meaningful data points were selected.
- The genetic analyses were done by the Laboratoire de biologie de la conservation (LBC) of the University of Lausanne.
- For the monitoring of brown bears in Switzerland, KORA is mandated by the Federal Office for the Environment (FOEN)