Mountain hares face welfare pressure from driven shoots, habitat change and climate-driven vegetation shifts. Understanding these pressures informs humane management approaches.
Mountain hare welfare involves both individual and population-level concerns. Driven shoots that kill large numbers rapidly cause acute welfare harm to individuals. The contested scientific basis for killing hares on grouse moors means that welfare harm may be occurring for questionable conservation benefit. Climate change creates a novel welfare pressure through camouflage mismatch - white hares on snow-free ground are more vulnerable to predation. Protecting mountain hares requires both humane management practices and evidence-based review of lethal control justifications.