Josef Kunz, a member of the far-right Swiss People Party (SVP), also known as the Democratic Union of the Centre (UDC), has said that he wants to expel wolves from his country and ship them over to Bulgaria and Romania, Dnevnik daily reported on November 11 2009.

Kunz told Swiss media that sending wolves to Bulgaria and Romania makes sense because "there is no room for wolves in Switzerland and besides, in Bulgaria and Romania, the animals will face a natural enemy – bears".

An alternative proposal of expelling the wolves over to Italy was apparently dismissed by Kunz and his party, because sending them to Italy would only mean that they "they would return back to Switzerland".

"Between arable land, farms, and urban areas, there is simply no habitat left for the wolves in this country – thus they don't have the right to be here," Dnevnik daily said, citing Swiss media.

The proposal of shipping the carnivores over to the Balkans has come as a debate rages on the status of wolves in Switzerland. The Swiss parliament must decide if they ought to lower the protective status of the animals from "strictly protected species" to "protected species", which will allow the authorities to take swifter measures against the animals should they become a greater nuisance.

The SVP (UDC) is a populist, national conservative political party in Switzerland. It supports increased Swiss political sovereignty.

The party also embodies the principle of self-reliance, and is skeptical toward any expansion of governmental powers. This is most evident in the rejection of Swiss accession into the EU, military actions abroad, and increased state expansion projects in areas such as social welfare and public education.