A controversial Scottish seabird hunt will not go ahead for the first time in 400 years, in what campaigners have called a “victory for common sense”.
In the annual guga hunt, up to 2,000 gannet chicks are killed over a 10-day period on the uninhabited Hebridean island of Sula Sgeir, 40 miles north of Lewis and Harris.
NatureScot, which is responsible for licensing, refused to allow this year’s hunt to go ahead, citing a potential “adverse impact” on gannet populations according to new modelling. All coastal wild bird colonies are at increased risk due to bird flu and climate change.
A petition to the Scottish Parliament to end the practice attracted more than 100,000 signatures. It was started by talented young wildlife photographer, Rachel Bigsby.. I am proud to have added my name to the petition.
Absolutely a victory for common sense. This is a barbaric practice conducted solely for ‘tradition’. Let’s hope this turns into a permanent stay against the taking and killing of these chicks. I am sure there were once equal arguments for maintaining the ‘tradition’ of clubbing seals, or of keeping humans as slaves. Screw harmful ‘traditions’.
- Original reporting from The Guardian - Scottish seabird hunt cancelled for first time in 400 years
Photograph: Danny Lawson/PA
