Brown hares are a species of conservation concern in the UK, declining significantly from agricultural intensification. Their welfare is shaped by predation, exposure, food availability, and the hazards of modern farming.
Hare welfare is threatened by both agricultural practices and active persecution. Leverets killed by silage cutters experience traumatic deaths that can be largely prevented through pre-cutting surveys and adjusted cutting patterns. Hares chased by dogs during illegal coursing events experience extreme stress and often injury or death - a direct welfare harm that continues despite legal prohibition. The loss of habitat diversity from agricultural intensification means hares in modern landscapes have fewer safe resting places, reduced food diversity, and less cover from predators, resulting in chronically elevated stress and reduced survival. Individual hares in degraded landscapes live more precarious, higher-stress lives than those in diverse agricultural settings.