Their plight has been likened to a ‘hunger games’ among sheep, with just the fittest and luckiest having any hope of survival.

St Kilda’s wild sheep have been left to their own devices for more than a century, ever since the archipelago’s last families were driven away when conditions became too challenging to stay.

With the islands’ owners, National Trust for Scotland, adopting a ‘hands off’ approach to the sheep and university researchers studying how they cope, startling numbers are said to have been left to perish – often enduring miserable deaths from starvation and infections.

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Now a petition is calling on the Scottish Parliament to take steps to have the sheep covered by animal welfare legislation, giving them the same legal protection and care as other sheep and feral animals such as wild goats and ponies.

The Herald: St Kilda’s wild sheep have been left to their own devices for more than a centurySt Kilda’s wild sheep have been left to their own devices for more than a century (Image: Getty Images)

The move has been made by two vets who live and work in Uist, David Buckland and Graham Charlesworth. They say over a 20-year period, more than 12,000 adult sheep and more than 4,000 lambs have died and have questioned why sheep elsewhere are covered by strict animal welfare legislation.

They say despite having raised concerns with NTS, which was bequeathed St Kilda in 1957 and which lists the Soay sheep on its website as among the World Heritage Site’s unique species, the conservation charity has “failed to accept any responsibility” for their welfare.

Read more: St Kilda: Soay sheep fighting for survival in real-life ‘hunger games’

The vets have also questioned the work of the Edinburgh University-led St Kilda Soay Sheep Project. It has tracked the population dynamics of the sheep since the 1980s, including years which have seen up to 70% of their numbers wiped out due to illness and starvation.

However, when they raised their concerns with Scotland’s Chief Veterinary Officer, Sheila Voas, they were told the St Kilda flock are to be regarded in the same manner as wild animals.

The Herald: St Kilda’s wild sheep have been left to their own devices for more than a centurySt Kilda’s wild sheep have been left to their own devices for more than a century (Image: Getty Images)

It means the Soay sheep of St Kilda, are the only sheep in the United Kingdom not protected by the Animal Health and Welfare Act (AHW Act).

Their petition is now calling for the Scottish Government to clarify the definition of protected animals contained Act, and associated guidance, “to ensure the feral sheep on St Kilda are covered by this legislation, enabling interventions to reduce the risk of winter starvation and the consequential suffering of the sheep”.

The move follows publication of the St Kilda Soay Sheep Project’s 2022 annual report which describes “moderately high” winter mortality among the sheep population on Hirta.

It states that 172 tagged animals were found dead within the study area.

According to the vets, however, the total number of adult sheep that perished across the entire archipelago over the year is much higher at 987.

“In addition, a similar percentage of sheep (46%) are likely to have died in the  Soay and Boreray flocks that are not part of the Soay Sheep Project study,” they say.

“The vast majority of these deaths will have occurred in late winter from starvation exacerbated by parasitism.

“In addition, 33% of the 2022 lambs died.”

They add: “NTS have said they ‘take responsibilities relating to animal welfare seriously', which begs the question: how are they allowing suffering to occur on such a scale on St Kilda?

“If these losses were on an NTS property of similar size to Hirta on the mainland, one suspects that they would have taken steps to reduce the losses from starvation many years ago in response to pressure from the public and the welfare authorities.”

Scotland’s Chief Veterinary Officer has described the sheep as “an accident of history” and “of a distinct kind… not commonly domesticated in the British Islands”.

However, the vets maintain that they are the result of several thousands of years of domestication. They also point to a recent paper by historian Prof Andrew Fleming which talks of the sheep being ‘owned’ by the archipelago’s laird, and that islanders visited to Soay and Boreray to combine fowling with sheep management,  valuing their wool and meat.

“The sheep are non-native feral animals in an unnatural environment, brought to St Kilda by neolithic man, their reproductive physiology changed by artificial selection over many generations so that they are far removed from their wild origins as mouflon in Asia 10,000 years ago,” they add.

“Without management, those changes lead to rapid overpopulation and hence starvation.

“Of course, all sheep must die sometime,” they add. “Our concern is how these sheep die, the manner of their death, and starvation is not a good one.”

A National Trust for Scotland spokesperson said: “As a conservation charity, the National Trust for Scotland takes responsibilities relating to animal welfare seriously and always follows relevant legislation.

“The Soay sheep are an important part of the St Kilda archipelago’s heritage, and originate from the population on the island of Soay where they were treated as a wild population for hundreds of years, unmanaged save for periodic hunting by the archipelago’s inhabitants.

“The sheep will continue to be treated as feral animals with a presumption against intervention, except in exceptional circumstances, such as a serious outbreak of disease that threatens the sheep populations.

“The Trust has been in long-running communication with the petitioners regarding the management and welfare of the sheep on St Kilda. We will continue to comply with Scottish Government legislation relating to St Kilda’s sheep populations and are happy to contribute to any review it decides to undertake.”