Wild Brown Hare: Leverets Welfare and Agricultural Risk

Brown hare leverets - born above ground and scattered across a field - are among the most vulnerable of all British mammal young, facing significant mortality from agricultural machinery.

Key Facts

Brown hares give birth to fully furred, open-eyed leverets that scatter to separate hiding spots
Leverets rely on camouflage for protection, lying motionless in forms throughout the day
Agricultural machinery including mowers and cultivators kills large numbers of leverets annually
The mother visits each leveret only briefly at dusk to nurse, reducing her own predation risk
UK brown hare populations declined by over 75% in the 20th century due to agricultural intensification
Silage cutting in spring and early summer coincides with peak leveret presence in grass fields

Welfare Considerations

Leveret welfare during agricultural operations is highly dependent on the awareness and care of farmers and contractors. Machinery strikes cause traumatic injury and death to animals that remain motionless as a natural predator avoidance response - a strategy that fails catastrophically against modern cutting speeds. Welfare-improving practices including pre-cut field checks, flushing bars on cutters, and reduced cutting speeds at field margins directly save leveret lives. Found leverets that appear abandoned are almost always not - the mother will return at dusk and removal by humans is rarely beneficial.

What You Can Do

Advocate for pre-cut mammal surveys and flushing bars on agricultural mowing equipment
Leave found leverets in place unless clearly injured - the mother will return at dusk
Support agri-environment schemes maintaining rough grassland field margins where leverets shelter
Report injured leverets to wildlife rescue organisations rather than attempting home care
Support brown hare monitoring schemes to track population recovery across farmland