Activists vandalise NatureScot headquarters over guga hunt licence
Tensions have arisen since the hunt was reinstated last year.
Slogans demanding the end to a wild seabird hunt on a Scottish island have been spray painted onto the Scottish Government’s nature agency headquarters.
NatureScot’s Great Glen House in Inverness has been covered in graffiti reading “end the guga hunt”, “animal lovers over animal haters”, “shame” and “we don’t accept cruelty”.
A window has also reportedly been smashed at the property.
The vandalism is in relation to the annual gannet chick hunt that takes place on Lewis in the Outer Hebrides each year.
NatureScot has come under fire from campaigners after permitting a cull licence last year.
The move allowed the hunt to go ahead again for the first time since 2021, when it had been shut down due to bird flu.
Taking into account the impact of the fast-spreading virus on gannet numbers, the nature agency reissued the licence but with a limit to killing 500 chicks, down from 2,000 permitted previously.
The guga hunt, which dates back to the 15th Century, sees a group of ten men hunt plump gannet chicks, known locally as guga, for their meat.
The annual tradition takes place on Sula Sgeir, a small rocky island 40 miles north of Ness on Lewis.
The hunting of the protected birds has a special derogation, with Ness being the only community in the British isles with a licence. The hazardous ritual has continued almost unbroken for the last 500 years.
There has been an ongoing campaign to ban the hunt, with nature photographer Rachel Bigsby presenting a petition signed by 92,000 people to the Scottish Parliament in November. Holyrood is considering the issue.
The petition reads: “I have devoted my life to Scotland’s seabirds; photographing for National Geographic as avian influenza devastated colonies, winning Wildlife Photographer of the Year (Natural Artistry) and Bird Photographer of the Year (Portfolio). I have spent years volunteering on seabird islands across Scotland, including with the Scottish Seabird Centre, working hands-on to protect these birds I love so dearly.
“The annual Guga Hunt is no longer a tradition — it is a blood sport. This abhorrent cruelty dates back centuries, when island communities relied on seabirds for food, but today it is not a necessity. Despite catastrophic losses from avian influenza and unimaginable daily threats, the hunt continues.
“After surviving a winter at sea, Gannets return to our shores to raise one precious chick with a lifelong partner. After months of devotion, that chick is snatched, clubbed, and strangled in its prime. I beg the Scottish Government: end this cruelty, protect Gannets, and let them recover.”
NatureScot, which makes licensing decisions based on current scientific evidence, said the hunt is lawful under the Wildlife and Countryside Act.
In response to the latest protest, a spokesperson for the nature agency said: “We are aware of the criminal damage at NatureScot's Great Glen House property in Inverness.
“As this is now a police matter, we are unable to comment further at this time.”
A Police Scotland spokesperson said: “Around 2am on Sunday, 15 February, 2026, we were called to a report of vandalism to a building in the Leachkin Road area of Inverness.
“Enquiries are ongoing.”
The 2025 licence has now expired, and an application has yet to be submitted regarding a 2026 hunt.
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