Records obtained by animal rights organisation PETA show that the UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) has increased its orders of bearskin caps for the King’s Guards by 336% under the current government, rising from 22 caps in 2024 to 96 in 2025. The figures, released through freedom of information requests, also indicate that the cost per cap has climbed by nearly 8%, with each item now costing £2,361.
The rise comes despite pre-election commitments by the winning Labour party to ban fur imports into the UK and promises to deliver what it described as “the most ambitious animal welfare programme in a generation”. Campaigners argue that the continued procurement of bearskin caps contradicts these pledges.
PETA has now called on Luke Pollard, Minister of State for Defence Readiness and Industry, to intervene. The minister has previously supported a ban on fur sales and imports. The group is urging him to instruct capmakers supplying the MoD to transition to faux fur alternatives.
Kate Werner, Senior Campaigns Manager at PETA UK, said, “Each cap costs a bear their life — making it indefensible that a government claiming to be the ‘party of animal welfare’ continues to use taxpayer money on these purely ornamental caps… With modern, high-quality faux fur readily available, there is no excuse to continue using bear fur. The MoD must act and develop a humane faux fur cap.”
The MoD purchases finished caps from manufacturers who source bear fur from Canada. There, government-issued “hunting tags” permit the killing of a set number of bears, whose skins are then sold on the international market. Campaigners state that this trade sustains demand and incentivises further killing.
A 2024 video exposé released by PETA documented practices used by hunters in Canada, including baiting bears with sweet foods before shooting them with high-powered crossbows. Such methods would be illegal under UK wildlife protection laws. The footage also suggested that some animals do not die immediately, but instead suffer prolonged deaths from injuries, blood loss, or related complications.PETA maintains that viable faux fur alternatives already exist and could replace real bear fur without altering the iconic appearance of the ceremonial caps.
