Why I’m mad about protecting hares
Born Free’s Youth Ambassador, Thea, tells us why she’s been using her voice to campaign for a close season for hares in England and Wales.
Chris Packham CBE, Youth Ambassador Thea Caine, and Chloe Dalton, author of Raising Hare
I’m mad about hares. Did you know that in the UK we have two species of hares: the brown hare and mountain hare, and both are pretty amazing!
Brown hares are the fastest wild mammal in the UK reaching speeds of 45mph by using their powerful hind legs to propel themselves across open land, usually zigzagging to avoid predators. The mountain hare is very speedy too, though not quite as fast, at just 40mph. However, mountain hares have a unique adaptation meaning their brown summer coats turns white in winter so they can camouflage themselves against the snow.
Hares are herbivores and like to graze on vegetation including grass, cereals, and herbs. Unlike rabbits, hares don’t live in burrows, instead sheltering in a shallow depression called a ‘form’ in the ground or grass, often near long grass or other cover. They breed in the spring and summer, and their offspring are called leverets.
In Scotland, Northern Ireland and across most of Europe, hares are protected against shooting during their breeding season, which typically runs from February to September. You’d think England and Wales would have this legal protection too, right? But no, they don’t! Most shoots in England and Wales take place in February and March, when females are already pregnant or feeding their young.
It’s absolutely shocking! Recent estimates suggest that brown hare numbers are now less than 600,000, yet more than 300,000 hares are shot each year in the name of sport! It makes me really sad that both of these incredible species have dramatically declined across our country over the last 150 years.
Shooting hares during the breeding season is terrible and results in the loss of breeding females and the death of their orphaned leverets through starvation. Countless animals suffer and die as a consequence of human actions and our outdated laws. It’s cruel and heart-breaking, and we must do something about it before it’s too late.
Join me, and help hares today!
Write to your MP to urge the Secretary of State for Environment to introduce a ‘close season’ for hare shooting.
No-one can do everything, but everyone can do something, and together, little by little, we can make a difference to protect hares.
Thank you, Thea.