JWL6022b Mountain Hare... - a photo on Flickriver

            Mountain Hare - Lepus Timidus

The mountain hare (Lepus timidus), also known as blue hare, tundra hare, variable hare, white hare, snow hare, alpine hare, and Irish hare, is a Palearctic hare that is largely adapted to polar and mountainous habitats. 

In the European Alps the mountain hare lives at elevations from 700 to 3800 m, depending on biographic region and season.The development of alpine winter tourism has increased rapidly since the last few decades of the 20th century, resulting in expansion of ski resorts, growing visitor numbers, and a huge increase in all forms of snow sport activities. A 2013 study looking at stress events and the response of mountain hares to disturbance concluded that those hares living in areas of high winter recreational activities showed changes in physiology and behaviour that demanded additional energy input at a time when access to food resources is restricted by snow. It recommended ensuring that forests inhabited by mountain hares were kept free of tourist development, and that new skiing areas should be avoided in mountain hare habitat, and that existing sites should not be expanded.

In August 2016, the Scottish animal welfare charity OneKind launched a campaign on behalf of the mountain hare, as a way of raising awareness of mountain hare culls taking place across the country and in garnering public support for the issue. Mountain hares are routinely shot in the Scottish Highlands both as part of paid hunting "tours" and by gamekeepers managing red grouse populations (who believe that mountain hares can be vectors of diseases which affect the birds). Much of this activity is secretive  but investigations have revealed that tens of thousands of hares are being culled every year. The campaign, which urges people to proclaim that We Care For The Mountain Hare", will culminate with the charity urging the Scottish government to legislate against commercial hunting and culling of the iconic Scottish species. The campaign has revealed widespread public support for a ban on hare hunting in Scotland. 

Unlike the brown hare, which is thought to have been introduced by the Celts during the Iron Age, the mountain hare is native to Britain. However, it is only native to the Scottish Highlands and was translocated elsewhere.

Taken on: March 8, 2016

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