FROM PROTECT THE WILD - NO LEGAL KILLING FOR ANYMORE GUGA?

Forwarded this email? Subscribe here for more New polling shows huge surge in opposition to the Guga hunt. Something has shifted. And the numbers prove it. DEVON DOCHERTY JUN 1 READ IN APP The tides are well and truly shifting against the Guga hunt - the cruel annual killing of Gannet chicks off the North West coast of Scotland - and we have the stats to prove it. Our latest polling shows that 77% of Scottish people with a view want the Guga hunt to be banned. In December, that figure was 69%, showing a significant increase in opposition in just five months. Even when taking into consideration people who answered ‘Don’t know’, the results show an outright majority supporting an end to the Guga hunt. Over half of all Scots want this hunt stopped. Strip out the don't knows and it's three in four. However you cut these numbers, the Scottish public has delivered a clear verdict on the Guga hunt - and they want it to stop. Stop the Guga hunt Our poll, commissioned with market research group FindOutNow, was Scottish-representative - meaning it was carefully weighted to reflect the real make-up of Scotland's population across age, gender, region and other factors. This is as close to the genuine public view as polling gets. How many people had heard of the Guga hunt before? We also asked if participants had previously heard of the hunt before taking part in our survey. The results were: At first glance, 17% may not sound like a particularly high figure. But when you consider that this is representative of the Scottish population, it means that around 748,000 Scottish adults had heard of the Guga hunt before. For a practice that has quietly continued for centuries, largely hidden from public view, the fact that hundreds of thousands of Scots are now aware of it represents a significant breakthrough. In fact, I’d wager that if this question had been asked just a year ago, the figure would have been less than 1% awareness. A year ago, I had never even heard of the Guga hunt myself - and by that point I had spent six years involved in Scotland's animal protection movement. While there’s clearly still a huge amount of awareness-raising to do, these results suggest that the Guga hunt is no longer a niche issue known only to the perpetrators and a handful of NatureScot staff. It is becoming a matter of national public debate. Tell NatureScot - END THE GUGA HUNT What’s changed? We believe the surge in both opposition to and awareness of the Guga hunt has been driven largely by a huge increase in media coverage. Our election campaign, which saw Protect the Wild founder Rob stand as a candidate in Edinburgh Central went particularly viral, showing the value of bold and creative campaigning. It helped bring the issue to a national audience, generating huge coverage across major UK media outlets, including broadcasting on BBC, ITV and STV news. We also featured on a segment of Have I Got News For You, which has an average of around 4 million viewers. Other factors include our viral Guga hunt animations each reaching millions of people, our collaboration with actor Brian Cox, direct action by grassroots activists from Abolish the Guga hunt, and growing efforts from other organisations. Why did we only poll in Scotland? Scotland has its own parliament and decisions about the future of the Guga hunt will ultimately be made there. The people who make up that parliament are elected to represent, and are accountable to, the Scottish public. NatureScot, the body responsible for licensing the hunt, is answerable to that same parliament, and those same members of the Scottish public. That makes Scottish public opinion particularly important. One of the most common claims made by defenders of the hunt is that opposition comes primarily from outside Scotland. Whether fair or not, it is important that we can demonstrate that concern about the Guga hunt exists within Scotland itself, and that support for ending it is growing among the Scottish people. And that’s exactly what we’ve done with this new polling. But let me be clear - this doesn’t mean opinions from elsewhere aren’t important. Public pressure doesn’t stop at Scotland’s borders, and support from across the UK and around the world has been invaluable in helping shine a light on the Guga hunt. Tell NatureScot - End the Guga hunt So wherever you’re from, please keep engaging with this campaign. Every conversation, every email, every petition signature and every action helps expose a practice that has remained hidden from public view for far too long. Help protect wildlife every month If you’re reading this, chances are you’re already part of the movement. Whether you’ve shared our content, signed a petition, contacted a decision-maker or simply helped spread the word, thank you. But if we’re going to keep growing, winning campaigns and protecting wildlife, we need more than support - we need sustainable funding. That’s why monthly donations are so important. If you’re able to support us, even if that’s the price of a cup of coffee once a month - please do, it makes everything we do for wildlife possible. Donate to Protect the Wild As a special thank you to those who support our campaign to end the Guga hunt, we’ll send you a Gannet plush toy as a small, soft reminder of the birds you are helping to protect. Just donate via the button above, or by clicking this link. SHARE LIKE COMMENT RESTACK © 2026 Protect the Wild Protect the Wild, 71-75 Shelton Street Covent Garden, London, W2CH 9JQ Unsubscribe Start writing