Call to phase out ‘inhumane’ guga hunt by working with Hebridean islanders

Guga hunting is unique in the UK by having legal protection under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981. Photograph: Murdo MacLeod/The Guardian View image in fullscreen Guga hunting is unique in the UK by having legal protection under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981. Photograph: Murdo MacLeod/The Guardian Call to phase out ‘inhumane’ guga hunt by working with Hebridean islanders Annual killing of infant gannets has been carried out on a remote Scottish island for at least 400 years Animal welfare campaigners have called for talks on phasing out the “inhumane” hunt for infant gannets known as guga, which are killed by hunters on a remote Scottish island once a year. OneKind and the League Against Cruel Sports said it should be slowly phased out in dialogue with the Hebridean islanders who see the hunt, which has been carried out for at least 400 years, as a cultural pursuit and as sustainable food harvesting. Both groups are highly critical of a “stunt-driven” campaign to force the case for a ban higher up the political agenda, which was launched earlier this year led by Protect the Wild, an anti-hunting group formed in 2015, and other activists. Their “creative disruption” included a 60-hour occupation of the roof of NatureScot, the conservation agency that licences the hunt, by Abolish the Guga Hunt, and a campaign by Protect the Wild’s founder, Rob Pownall, to win election to Holyrood dressed as a gannet. Protect the Wild commissioned the Succession actor Brian Cox to narrate a graphic animated film ; Cox said the practice was “needless cruelty”. Pownall said: “Gannet chicks are being snatched from their nests and bludgeoned to death for nothing more than a tradition.” View image in fullscreen Protect the Wild’s founder, Rob Pownall, stood for election to the Scottish parliament dressed as a gannet to draw attention to the guga hunt. Photograph: Murdo MacLeod/The Guardian Robbie Marsland, the director of League Against Cruel Sport Scotland and a veteran of campaigns opposing Icelandic whaling and seal clubbing in Canada, said those tactics had been counterproductive, entrenching support for guga hunting on Lewis in the Western Isles. Marsland said he supported two petitions calling for a ban – including a 183,000-signature one launched by Protect the Wild. However, he said, the best way to end the practice was through dialogue, by agreeing to a solution that “honours and respects” the tradition. “It’s a hunt for food, no doubt about that,” he said. “It’s not a sport, it’s a tradition. People on Lewis don’t think it’s horrific.” A spokesperson for Protect the Wild said its “bold, creative approach” had brought the issue to national attention. “Bringing a hidden cruelty into the light is never comfortable, but it is necessary,” they said. “Any issue that touches on culture, tradition and the treatment of animals will stir strong feelings on all sides. But we believe the public has a right to know what happens to wildlife in their country.”