‘Succession’ star Brian Cox narrates new film exposing controversial gannet hunt – watch here

Succession actor Brian Cox has narrated a harrowing new animated film. It calls for an end to Scotland’s controversial guga hunt, and exposes the ‘tradition’ of killing gannet chicks.

Firelily Studios created the animation for wildlife campaign group Protect the Wild. It depicts the life and death of a single gannet chick, from the safety of their nest to the moment they are taken and killed by hunters.

Every year, men from the Isle of Lewis travel to the remote island of Sula Sgeir. There they kill gannet seabird chicks (known as guga). The practice originated in times of hardship as a source of sustenance. But today the killing goes on primarily to maintain tradition, with the young gannet flesh considered a local delicacy. It is the UK’s last remaining seabird hunt.

The guga hunt has come under increasing scrutiny from campaigners, with growing public concern for animal welfare and conservation. It can only happen if NatureScot, Scotland’s official nature agency, gives out a licence for it. A petition urging NatureScot to stop its licensing of the hunt has shot past its target of 50,000 signatures.

That demand forms the basis of Protect the Wild’s emotive new animation, which urges members of the public to add their names to the petition.

‘Needless cruelty’ to gannet chicks

In the film’s final scene, a lone gannet parent stands at the edge of a cliff beside their now-empty nest, as Cox condemns the practice as “needless cruelty” and calls on NatureScot to end the guga hunt.

In 2025, NatureScot allowed the killing of 500 gannet chicks. It maintains that the hunt is sustainable and is unlikely to threaten the long-term stability of the gannet population. But recent Freedom of Information requests by Protect the Wild revealed that Sula Sgeir is Scotland’s worst-performing gannet colony. And it’s the only Special Protection Area for gannets in Scotland to have declined while others are growing.

Devon Docherty, Scottish campaigns manager at Protect the Wild, said:

We’re incredibly grateful to Brian Cox for lending his voice to this important campaign and helping to bring this hidden cruelty into the spotlight.

We made this animation to show the reality of the guga hunt, where defenceless chicks are snatched from their nests before they can fly, and battered to death in front of their parents.

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This is not about survival. It’s about maintaining a tradition that comes at the cost of immense animal suffering. This horrific practice has to stop.

NatureScot has a choice. This licence is discretionary. As Scotland’s nature agency, it has a duty to protect wildlife, not permit its destruction.

Protect the Wild released the animation across its social media channels at 5pm on 2 April.

Featured image via Firelily Studios / Protect the Wild