🐇 Brown Hare Welfare

Wildlife WelfareMammalsFarmlandConservation

Status: Brown hare populations have declined by approximately 80% in the UK since the 1880s. They are UK Biodiversity Action Plan priority species and a key indicator of farmland health. Populations are now recovering in some areas with targeted management.

About Brown Hares

The brown hare (Lepus europaeus) is one of Britain's fastest land mammals, capable of speeds exceeding 70 km/h. Unlike rabbits, hares do not burrow — leverets (young hares) are born fully furred and open-eyed in simple surface scrapes called "forms." Hares are solitary except during the breeding season, when the famous "Mad March" boxing behaviour is seen — females boxing off overly persistent males.

Hares occupy open farmland, grassland, and field edges. Their preference for wide, open landscapes with minimal cover makes them highly visible and highly vulnerable to agricultural intensification.

Welfare and Conservation Threats

Agricultural Intensification

The primary driver of hare decline:

Loss of mixed farming — spring-sown crops provided cover for leverets; autumn-sown monocultures do not
Autumn tillage destroys forms and kills leverets
Silage cutting kills leverets hidden in long grass (at 3 cuts per season compared to 1 hay cut historically)
Loss of field margins and headlands removes foraging and refuging habitat
Pesticide and herbicide use reduces plant diversity on which hares feed

Leverets and Silage Cutting

Silage cutting is one of the most significant causes of leveret mortality and welfare harm. Leverets crouch and remain still when disturbed — a strategy that works against natural predators but not against machinery. Welfare mitigations include:

Cutting from centre of field outward (rather than outside in), allowing hares to flee to field margins
Reducing cutting speed
Walking the field before cutting to flush hares
Leaving uncut refugia in fields where possible

Hare Coursing

Hare coursing (using dogs to chase and catch hares) is illegal in England and Wales under the Hunting Act 2004 but continues illegally, particularly in eastern arable areas. Coursing causes significant welfare harm through exhaustion, injury, and killing of hares. It also causes significant economic damage to farm infrastructure. Reporting suspected coursing to police contributes to enforcement.

Disease

European Brown Hare Syndrome (EBHS), caused by a calicivirus related to rabbit haemorrhagic disease (RHD), causes periodic population crashes through acute liver disease. EBHS outbreaks can kill large proportions of local populations, causing significant welfare harm in the dying individuals.

Conservation Management

Agri-Environment Measures

Wild bird seed mixes and legume fallows provide foraging habitat
Beetle banks and grass margins across fields
Overwintered stubbles provide food in winter
Reduced pesticide use and conservation headlands improve plant diversity

Monitoring

Hare populations are monitored through spotlight transect surveys at dusk. Regular monitoring allows detection of population trends. Reporting hare sightings through iRecord or local mammal surveys contributes to national monitoring.

Hare Shooting: Hares are game animals in the UK with no close season (unlike game birds). Irresponsible shooting during the breeding season (January–March) causes welfare harm to does with dependent leverets. Many shoots voluntarily implement seasonal shooting restrictions and population monitoring before shoots. Welfare-conscious estates maintain population monitoring to ensure sustainable shooting levels.