Mountain hares are Scotland's only native lagomorph. Population management through culling on grouse moors and climate change threaten both individual welfare and population viability.
Mountain hare welfare has been directly affected by their historical management as vectors of louping ill and tick burden on red grouse. Mass culls removing thousands of hares from individual estates significantly reduced local populations and caused direct welfare harm to culled individuals and social disruption to surviving hares. The 2021 Scottish legal protection prohibiting mass culls without license was a direct welfare improvement measure.
Climate change represents a longer-term welfare threat. Mountain hares moult to white coats for winter camouflage, but reduced snow cover in milder winters leaves white hares conspicuous against brown ground — increasing predation risk. Individual hares in mismatched coats face heightened predator encounters and the chronic stress of increased predation pressure.