You’re about to read something the Guga hunters never expected the public to see. They thought it would stay private. They were wrong.
The Guga hunt – the annual killing of Gannet seabird chicks on the Scottish island of Sula Sgeir – was written into law in the 1950s when wild birds were given legal protections, but the hunt still provided a legitimate food source to islanders during harsh winters.
This “human consumption” defence is what underpins the legality of the hunt today. But of course, we know nobody has to club seabird chicks from their nests for food these days.
So we wanted to know what was being said about this hunt behind closed doors – not in press releases, not in public statements, but in private correspondence. We submitted a Freedom of Information request to NatureScot, the public authority who gives out licenses for the hunt. We requested their communications with the hunters surrounding last year’s hunt in September, when they killed 485 chicks.
What came back exposes the real reason this hunt continues. Among the paperwork and formalities, one letter that stood out. A thank you letter. Written by the hunters to NatureScot after the killing.
“Thanks for enabling the continuation of this tradition”
In the letter, the Guga hunters praise NatureScot for “enabling” the hunt. Not for necessity. Not for survival. For tradition.
They describe how the birds were “taken from their nests with a rod” and killed “with a blow to the head.” They thank NatureScot for its “continued support of this important cultural tradition” and express gratitude for the opportunity to maintain a “centuries-old practice,” as if the sheer length of time this has been allowed to continue is a justification and not an injustice. It is disgusting how genuinely gleeful they sound about so cruelly taking so many young lives.
Food is mentioned once – briefly, in passing as if to cover their backs. But the substance of the letter lays bare the truth: this has nothing to do with feeding people. The hunters enjoy killing Gannets and feel entitled to do so. They believe this is their birthright – and NatureScot keeps rubber-stamping it with taxpayer money.
Killing for kicks
Any notions of this being a genuine subsistence-based hunt is over. It is about maintaining a ritual that they feel entitled to continue – regardless of the cost to wildlife. So our message to the hunters is this: it’s time to leave these birds alone. There are so many ways to connect with your past that don’t involve beating animals to death.
Seriously, how have we got to the point where in 2025, hunters are sending smug thank you emails to Scotland’s NATURE PROTECTION AGENCY for allowing them to kill native seabirds, in an internationally important nesting site, designated as a Special Protection Area?
These words need to mean something. And we are going to make sure they do. The hunter’s letter ends with them saying they look forward to working together with NatureScot again next year.
Join us in ensuring there isn’t a next year or any other year of killing Guga.
We need you, right now, to sign the petition demanding NatureScot puts an end to this farce.
Every signature is crucial. Because when the numbers climb, so does the political cost of doing nothing. Please share it with other wildlife defenders.
Together, we’ll make this hunt history.