Mountain hares are managed on Scottish grouse moors, with periodic mass culling to reduce tick burden on red grouse. The welfare and conservation implications of this management are controversial.
Mountain hare culling welfare involves both the welfare of culled individuals and the aggregate welfare implications of population reduction. Culled mountain hares experience acute welfare harm at the moment of death; the method used (shooting) causes rapid death when accurate but wounding rates occur with any shooting operation. The population-level welfare implications of large-scale culling are significant: reducing mountain hare populations by 90% removes the vast majority of individuals from affected areas, eliminating the welfare experiences of those animals permanently. The scientific case for the wildlife management justification - that mountain hare reduction reduces grouse louping ill incidence - is contested, with some evidence suggesting the relationship is weaker than management decisions assume. The welfare cost-benefit analysis requires honest assessment of both the welfare of culled hares and whether the management outcome actually delivers the claimed benefit.