What's behind Durrell Trust's U-turn on deer stalking?

It seems to be 'sustained grassroots pressure'...

In March 2025 Protect the Wild called-out the Durrell Wildlife and Conservation Trust's (DWCT) policy of allowing pay-to-shoot deer stalking on the estate it leases in the Cairngorms. After pressure from us, grassroots campaigners and local media the trust has performed a U-turn, announcing that they will end deer-stalking on the Dalnacardoch estate in Perthshire, Scotland by the end of the hunting season 2026.

DWCT is a well-known Jersey-based conservation charity, founded by the popular late British author and naturalist Gerald Durrell. It has been involved in a rewilding project at Dalnacardoch since 2023. The Trust attracted controversy last year after ex-Durrell director Paul Masterton's scathing statement that DWCT's support for “trophy hunting and blood sport” where “people pay a licence fee where they stalk and kill animals” was a sign that the Trust had travelled "far from its roots and its values”.

The Trust's move away from supporting trophy hunting follows the resignation of DWCT Director Matthew Hatchwell. Hatchwell had made himself unpopular with many Trust supporters when he suggested to critics of the charity's board of directors at the Trust's 2023 AGM that "If any members feel they cannot support our leadership as we enter this new period in Durrell’s history, we encourage them to reflect on whether a Durrell membership is right for them.”

We asked the Trust about their reasons for the move. A media spokesperson repeated a similar response to the one given to the Jersey Evening Post (JEP), that stopping paid deer stalking had always been part of their plans. They said:

"Durrell has always intended to stop paid deer stalking. When we took on the lease in 2023, we were clear that over time we would transition away from Dalnacardoch’s historic use as a sporting estate. When we start work on any new project, no matter where it is in the world, we always take time to understand the local culture and traditions and respect these. For Dalnacardoch, this has included stalking which is a well-established part of deer management in Scotland and a way of life for the dedicated team which have worked on the estate for decades."

However, we have to say that this doesn't really ring true. If the Trust had always planned to stop pay-to-shoot hunting, why didn't they say so when they started to receive negative media attention about Dalnacardoch? Deer stalking at the Estate has attracted a lot of adverse publicity over the last year, with questions at the Trust's AGM from DWCT supporters, several articles in the JEP, and Protect the Wild's article earlier this year. When we contacted the Trust in March they did not mention plans to phase out paid deer stalking. In our view, DWCT's announcement is the result of external pressure.

A result of grassroots pressure

Protect the Wild's Rob Pownall welcomed the Trust's plans to end deer stalking, but expressed disappointment at the delay until 2026. He emphasised that the change of heart was down to grassroots pressure rather than magnanimity on the part of DWCT. According to Pownall:

"It’s welcome news that the Durrell Trust has ended its financial support for deer stalking at Dalnacardoch, but the delay until 2026 is disappointing. This decision didn’t come from within, it was forced by sustained grassroots pressure from campaigners in Jersey and amplified by critical media coverage, including our own. Wildlife conservation cannot sit comfortably alongside paying to kill animals for sport, and it’s time all organisations aligned their actions with their stated values.

The River Garry running through the Dalnacardoch Estate

Protect the Wild spoke with Peter Brookes from the grassroots group 'We Love The Zoo' in Jersey, where DWCT is based. Brookes and other local campaigners have been pressuring the Trust on both deer hunting and the conditions for animals in their captivity. He told us:

"following months of canvassing to stop the paid shooting of deer, we are pleased that the Board have at last taken action. We were first told that there would be shooting at a price (paid stag hunting) in October 2023 and have been working hard to stop this activity since then."

In moving to end deer stalking, DWCT joins the Scottish Wildlife Trust (SWT) which has recently bought the Inverbroom estate near Ullapool in north-west Scotland. SWT is planning a rewilding project on the Estate. Crucially it plans to end all grouse shooting and deer stalking on the land it manages.

The trust should end suffering now, not in 2026

A professional stalker in the Highlands stands over a red deer killed by a tourist

While the moves to end trophy hunting at Dalnacardoch are welcome, why the wait until 2026? It’s likely that the answer is about money. Scotland is a popular pay-to-shoot deer stalking location for hunters worldwide. DWCT claims that deer stalking is part of Scotland's "traditional culture" and they needed a planned phase out to remain culturally sensitive. However, the majority of the people shooting deer in Scotland are foreign tourists, who typically pay hundreds of pounds for every kill. Dalnacardoch is likely to already have bookings from rich hunting parties for the rest of the season.

The deer killed by blood sports enthusiasts at Dalnacardoch are likely to have a terrifying and painful death. One anonymous opponent of deer stalking at Dalnacardoch told Protect the Wild that "amateurs are well known to inflict awful wounds and suffering on deer which then die slowly. " He went on to state that "an organisation like Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust should not be continuing with deer stalking on its land.”

Are the Trust's protests about protecting local jobs and respecting "Scottish culture" a reason to condemn countless deer to suffer and die for another year? We think not.

Stop the cull

Up to an estimated 200,000 deer are culled every year in Scotland, and the Scottish government want to kill another 50,000 more. DWCT aren't going to stop culling deer at Dalnacardoch. In fact, they confirmed to the Jersey Evening Post that the Trust's deer manager on the estate would personally carry out the killing of deer. How many are killed would depend upon "the animal's movement and the guidelines issued by the Scottish government".

To be fair to DWCT, it would be difficult for them to stop the culling of deer on their estate even if they wanted to, as NatureScot has carried out its own culls in areas where landlords are deemed not to be killing enough deer. However, it is clear from our correspondence with DWCT that they are actively supportive of the cull.

DWCT also aren't promoting alternatives to the cull as part of their rewilding initiative. One possible alternative that has been raised by many Scottish ecologists is the reintroduction of wolves. Bringing back wolves to Scotland's wild regions could do away with the rationale for human intervention in deer numbers, as they have previously been the apex predator. Academics have also promoted the reintroduction of wolves as a way to counteract climate change because it would enable the regeneration of woodland and thus the storage of large amounts of carbon dioxide (CO2).

But wolves have many fierce opponents in Scotland, principally amongst farmers and - you guessed it - the shooting industry.

The Durrell Trust, as an organisation which specialises in repopulating habitats with locally extinct species, is uniquely positioned to advocate for bringing back wolves. DWCT has previously been involved in an initiative to bring back European wildcats to Wales, for example. However, wolves are conspicuously absent from DWCT's plans for Dalnacardoch. We asked the Trust about their position on the reintroduction of wolves...

DWCT's policy U-turn is living proof that concerted grassroots pressure can work. We hope that people will continue to pressure the Trust over the delay until 2026. At Protect the Wild, we don't think blood sports should be respected as part of a 'cultural heritage' - they are cruel, pointless and barbaric. We'd like to see more landowners and conservation organisations speaking out against them.

• Read more about Deer and the Law on our Protectors of the Wild page here.

Image of River Garry via Anne Burgess (Wikimedia Commons). Red deer via Diana Parkhouse/Unsplash, Wolves image via Thomas Bonometti/Unsplash. Deer stalker via FieldsportsChannel.tv/Wikimedia

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