Wildlife

Mountain Hare Welfare and Driven Grouse Moor Management

Mountain hares are legally culled on driven grouse moors across Scotland because they host ticks that carry louping-ill virus affecting grouse. The welfare and conservation impacts are significant.

Key Facts

An estimated 25,000-50,000 mountain hares are culled annually in Scotland
Mountain hares are fully protected in the rest of the UK but not on Scottish grouse moors
The culls are carried out with shotguns — wounding is common
Mountain hare populations on intensively managed grouse moors have declined by 99%
They are listed as Priority Species under the UK Post-2010 Biodiversity Framework

Welfare Considerations

Shotgun culls cause a mixture of instant death and wounding requiring additional shots — welfare monitoring is essentially absent from current practice. The species-level concern is as significant as the individual welfare problem: local extinction from some managed estates has occurred. A moratorium on mountain hare culling was introduced in Scotland in 2021, requiring licence applications for exceptional circumstances.

What You Can Do

Support Scottish Government implementation of mountain hare protection licensing
Back campaigns for mandatory grouse moor licensing that includes hare protection
Report suspected illegal mountain hare culling to Police Scotland
Follow OneKind Scotland campaigns on mountain hare welfare
Engage with the Grouse Inquiry Group on upland estate management standards