Wild Mountain Hare Welfare and Driven Grouse Shooting

Mountain hares face welfare challenges from habitat management for driven grouse shooting that includes legal mass culling affecting hundreds of thousands of animals.

Key Facts

Mountain hares are culled on grouse moors in Scotland to reduce tick burden on grouse and prevent louping ill virus transmission
Estimates suggest 25,000-50,000 mountain hares are killed annually on grouse moors in Scotland
The EU Habitats Directive technically protects mountain hares but exemptions for land management have been widely applied
Mountain hares rely on heather moorland that is also managed for grouse through burning and other practices
Scotland has introduced licensing requirements for mountain hare culls following conservation concerns

Welfare Considerations

Mountain hares killed in mass culls experience the welfare harms of shooting during hunts - wound ballistics may cause prolonged suffering when animals are not killed immediately. The scale of culling - tens of thousands of animals annually - represents significant aggregate welfare harm to a protected species. The management of moorland exclusively for driven grouse shooting creates an ecosystem that prioritizes one game species over the complex community of species, including mountain hares, whose welfare is affected by management decisions. Licensing requirements that limit cull numbers and require records create accountability that was previously absent.

What You Can Do

Support policy requiring strict licensing and monitoring of mountain hare culls on grouse moors
Advocate against driven grouse shooting as a land management system that causes widespread wildlife welfare harm
Choose recreational activities in moorland areas that support wildlife conservation rather than game management
Learn about the broader ecological impacts of driven grouse moor management on UK biodiversity and welfare