Animal Diversity Web

Ge­o­graphic Range

The nat­ural dis­tri­b­u­tion of Eu­ro­pean hares in­cludes Great Britain and west­ern Eu­rope, east to through the Mid­dle East to Cen­tral Asia (Lin­coln, 1974; Broekhuizen and Maaskamp, 1980; Cail­lol and Me­u­nier, 1989; Poli et al., 1991). They have been in­tro­duced by hu­mans to sev­eral other con­ti­nents. In Canada, Lepus eu­ropaeus is found in south­ern On­tario, around the Great Lakes, and south of the Cana­dian Shield. It has failed to spread fur­ther north. In the United States, Eu­ro­pean hares are now found in the north-east­ern states and around the Great Lakes (Hall and Kel­son, 1959). They have also been in­tro­duced to areas of South and Cen­tral Amer­ica (Bonino and Mon­tene­gro, 1997) and Aus­tralia. (Bonino and Mon­tene­gro, 1997; Broekhuizen and Maaskamp, 1980; Cail­lol, et al., 1988; Hall and Kel­son, 1959; Lin­coln, 1974; Poli, et al., 1991)

• Biogeographic Regions
• nearctic
  • introduced
• palearctic
  • native
• neotropical
  • introduced
• australian
  • introduced

Habi­tat

Eu­ro­pean hares pre­fer open fields and pas­tures bor­dered by hedgerows and wood­lots, often around agri­cul­ture fields and crops. They live in shal­low forms; clumps of grass, weeds, or bush (Pe­ter­son, 1966; Bans­field, 1974; William and Whitaker, 1943). (Bans­field, 1974; Hamil­ton and Whitaker, 1943; Pe­ter­son, 1966)

• Habitat Regions
• temperate
• terrestrial

• Terrestrial Biomes
• savanna or grassland

• Other Habitat Features
• agricultural

Phys­i­cal De­scrip­tion

Total length: 600-750 (av­er­age 680) mm; Ear length, from notch: 94-102 (av. 98) mm; Tail: 72-110 (av. 95) mm; Hind foot: 142-161 (av. 151) mm; Skull length: 96-104 (av. 100) mm; Skull width: 44-51 (av. 47.3) mm (Pe­ter­son, 1966; Hall and Kel­son, 1959). They have long ears with black tips and which are grey­ish white in­side. The pelage is yel­low­ish-brown to grey­ish-brown, with a grey­ish-white un­der­body. The face is brown, with eye rings. The tail is black on the top and white on the bot­tom. In win­ter, L. eu­ropaeus doesn't change its pelage to white, but does be­come slightly more grey (Pe­ter­son, 1966; Bans­fields, 1974; Dragg, 1974). There is no noted sex­ual di­mor­phism. The skull fea­tures short, broad, heavy nasal bones, and promi­nent an­te­rior and pos­te­rior lobes of the supra­or­bital processes. It also often has a promi­nent sub­cu­ta­neous process of the lacrimal bone, pro­ject­ing from the an­te­rior wall of the orbit (Bans­field, 1974). (Bans­field, 1974; Dragg, 1974; Hall and Kel­son, 1959; Pe­ter­son, 1966)

• Other Physical Features
• endothermic
• homoiothermic
• bilateral symmetry

• Sexual Dimorphism
• sexes alike

• Range mass

  3 to 5 kg

  6.61 to 11.01 lb

• Range length

  600 to 750 mm

  23.62 to 29.53 in

• Average length

  680 mm

  26.77 in

Re­pro­duc­tion

The breed­ing sea­son for L. eu­ropaeus is be­tween mid­win­ter (Jan­u­ary/Feb­ru­ary) and mid­sum­mer. The ges­ta­tion pe­riod is be­tween 30 and 42 days (Bans­field, 1974; Pe­ter­son, 1966). There is a high in-utero re­ab­sorb­tion rate; 7% in the spring to 25% in the au­tumn (Bans­field, 1974). Lit­ter size varies be­tween 1 and 8, the av­er­age being 3 to 5 (William and Whitaker, 1943; Bans­field, 1974). There are two to sev­eral lit­ters a sea­son. The wean­ing pe­riod is said to be about one month (Broekhuizen and Maaskamp, 1980; Bans­field, 1974). The young, called lev­erets, reach sex­ual ma­tu­rity at eight months to a year in age. Dur­ing au­tumn, the male's go­nads and re­pro­duc­tive tract are re­gressed and plasma lev­els of testos­terone and luteiniz­ing hor­mone are low. In fe­males, luteiniz­ing hor­mone basal lev­els are at a max­i­mum in July, the end of the re­pro­duc­tive sea­son (Cail­lol and Me­u­nier, 1989). (Bans­field, 1974; Broekhuizen and Maaskamp, 1980; Cail­lol, et al., 1988; Hamil­ton and Whitaker, 1943)

• Key Reproductive Features
• iteroparous
• seasonal breeding
• gonochoric/gonochoristic/dioecious (sexes separate)
• sexual
• viviparous

• Breeding interval

  There are two to several litters a season.

• Breeding season

  The breeding season for L. europaeus is between midwinter (January/February) and midsummer.

• Range number of offspring

  1 to 8

• Average number of offspring

  3-5

• Average number of offspring

  2

  AnAge

• Range gestation period

  30 to 42 days

• Average weaning age

  30 days

• Average time to independence

  1 months

• Average age at sexual or reproductive maturity (female)

  8 months

• Average age at sexual or reproductive maturity (female)
  Sex: female

  236 days

  AnAge

• Average age at sexual or reproductive maturity (male)

  8 months

Lev­erets are pre­co­cial at birth, with long and silky fur (Pe­ter­son, 1966). To pro­tect lev­erets, the mother dis­perses them over a mod­er­ately wide area to avoid pre­da­tion on the whole lit­ter. The mother then makes the rounds to nurse them (Bans­field, 1974). (Bans­field, 1974; Pe­ter­son, 1966)

• Parental Investment
• precocial
• pre-fertilization
  • provisioning
  • protecting
    • female
• pre-hatching/birth
  • provisioning
    • female
  • protecting
    • female
• pre-weaning/fledging
  • provisioning
    • female

Lifes­pan/Longevity

• Average lifespan
  Status: wild

  12.0 years

  Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research

• Average lifespan
  Status: captivity

  7.4 years

  Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research

Be­hav­ior

Eu­ro­pean hares are mainly soli­tary an­i­mals ex­cept dur­ing mat­ing sea­son. They are cre­pus­cu­lar and noc­tur­nal, mostly for­ag­ing at night (be­tween 7 p.m. and 7 a.m.). Eu­ro­pean hares re­main ac­tive all year round. Dur­ing the day they crouch in a de­pres­sion called a 'form', par­tially con­cealed with their back show­ing (Bans­field, 1974). Eu­ro­pean hares posess an ex­cel­lent sense of sight, smell, and hear­ing. Upon de­tec­tion of a preda­tor, Eu­ro­pean hares will run to es­cape, and can dodge and change di­rec­tion quickly if needed. They are very fast and have been clocked at up to 35 mph (about 60 kph) run­ning in a straight line. They will also dive into streams if needed as they are de­cent swim­mers (William and Whitaker; Bans­field, 1974). (Bans­field, 1974; Hamil­ton and Whitaker, 1943)

• Key Behaviors
• terricolous
• saltatorial
• nocturnal
• motile
• sedentary
• solitary

Home Range

There is lit­tle ev­i­dence to sug­gest that L. eu­ropaeus stays within a re­stricted home range. (Bans­field, 1974; Hamil­ton and Whitaker, 1943)

Com­mu­ni­ca­tion and Per­cep­tion

Eu­ro­pean hares are usu­ally quiet an­i­mals. They make low grunts from time to time and "gut­tural" calls from the doe (fe­male) to her lev­erets. It has been sug­gested that Eu­ro­pean hares grind their teeth as an alarm call. They also emit a shrill call when hurt or caught (Pe­ter­son, 1966; Bans­field, 1974). (Bans­field, 1974; Pe­ter­son, 1966)

• Communication Channels
• acoustic
• chemical

• Perception Channels
• visual
• tactile
• acoustic
• chemical

Food Habits

Eu­ro­pean hares are her­biv­o­rous, eat­ing grasses, herbs, and field crops dur­ing sum­mer. Dur­ing win­ter Eu­ro­pean hares feed on twigs, buds, shrub bark, small trees, and young fruit tree bark. They also com­monly re-in­gest their green, soft fecal pel­lets. This is known as co­propha­gia. Two or three adult L. eu­ropaeus can eat as much veg­e­ta­tion as one sheep (Ban­field, 1974; William and Whitaker, 1943; Pe­ter­son, 1966). (Bans­field, 1974; Hamil­ton and Whitaker, 1943; Pe­ter­son, 1966)

• Primary Diet
• herbivore
  • folivore
• coprophage

• Plant Foods
• leaves
• wood, bark, or stems

• Other Foods
• dung

Pre­da­tion

Known preda­tors in­clude red foxes, wolves, coy­otes (in their in­tro­duced range in North Amer­ica), wild cats, larger hawks, and owls (Bans­field, 1974). (Bans­field, 1974)

• Anti-predator Adaptations
• cryptic

• Known Predators

  • red foxes (Vulpes vulpes)
  • wolves (Canis lupus)
  • coyotes (Canis latrans)
  • larger hawks (Buteo)
  • large owls (Strigiformes)
  • wild cats (Felis silvestris)

Eco­nomic Im­por­tance for Hu­mans: Pos­i­tive

Eu­ro­pean hares have be­come an im­por­tant and chal­leng­ing game an­i­mal, es­pe­cially in North Amer­ica. The meat is said to be white and de­li­cious (William and Whitaker, 1943; Bans­field, 1974). (Bans­field, 1974; Hamil­ton and Whitaker, 1943)

• Positive Impacts
• food

Eco­nomic Im­por­tance for Hu­mans: Neg­a­tive

In some areas, such as Ar­gentina, Aus­tralia and, to a lesser ex­tent, North Amer­ica, L. eu­ropaeus is a pest. The prob­lem lies in its quick re­pro­duc­tion and dev­as­ta­tion to agri­cul­ture, es­pe­cially young apple or­chards (Bonino and Mon­tene­gro, 1997; Bans­field, 1974; William and Whitaker, 1943). (Bans­field, 1974; Bonino and Mon­tene­gro, 1997; Hamil­ton and Whitaker, 1943)

• Negative Impacts
• crop pest
• causes or carries domestic animal disease

Con­ser­va­tion Sta­tus

Eu­ro­pean hares are wide­spread through­out Eu­rope, where they are called com­mon hares. Eu­ro­pean hares have done well in North Amer­ica, with pop­u­la­tion num­bers quickly ris­ing to the cur­rent den­sity. In On­tario pop­u­la­tion den­sity has been as high as 100 per square mile, and has lev­eled to about 25 per square mile (Bans­field, 1974; Dragg, 1974). In re­cent decades there have been out­breaks of in­creased mor­tal­ity due to dis­ease, par­tic­u­larly in Eu­rope. This syn­drome in­cludes acute he­pato­sis, en­teri­tis, nephro­sis, gen­eral jaun­dice, con­ges­tion, and he­m­or­rhage of in­ter­nal or­gans, and has been called Eu­ro­pean Brown Hare Syn­drome (Poli et al., 1991). (Bans­field, 1974; Dragg, 1974; Poli, et al., 1991)

• IUCN Red List

  Least Concern
  More information

• IUCN Red List

  Least Concern
  More information

• US Federal List

  No special status

• CITES

  No special status

Other Com­ments

Lepus eu­ropaeus is na­tive to Eu­rope and South Asia, and was in­tro­duced every­where else it is presently found. For ex­am­ple, it was in­tro­duced to On­tario in 1912, from Ger­many, and in New York State in 1893, and has been a suc­cess­ful game an­i­mal ever since (Dragg, 1974; William and Whitaker, 1943). In other coun­tries such as Aus­tralia and Ar­gentina, L. eu­ropaeus is a huge pest, with in­tro­duc­tion re­sult­ing in agri­cul­tural dis­as­ter (Dragg, 1974; Bonino and Mon­tene­gro, 1997). Other com­mon names for the Eu­ro­pean hare: com­mon hare, brown hare (Cail­lol and Me­u­nier, 1989; Poli et al., 1991) (Cail­lol, et al., 1988; Dragg, 1974; Hamil­ton and Whitaker, 1943; Poli, et al., 1991)

Con­trib­u­tors

Alan Vu (au­thor), Uni­ver­sity of Toronto.

Ref­er­ences

Bans­field, A. 1974. Mam­mals of Canada. Toronto: Uni­ver­sity of Toronto Press.

Bonino, N., A. Mon­tene­gro. 1997. Re­pro­duc­tion of the Eu­ro­pean hare in Pan­tag­o­nia, Ar­gentina. Acta The­ri­o­log­ica, 42(1): 47-54.

Broekhuizen, S., F. Maaskamp. 1980. Be­hav­iour of does and lev­erets of the Eu­ro­pean hare (Lepus eu­ropaeus) whilst nurs­ing. J. Zool. Lond., 191: 487-501.

Cail­lol, M., M. Me­u­nier, M. Mondain-Mon­val, P. Simon. 1988. Sea­sonal vari­a­tions in testis size, testos­terone and LH basal lev­els, and pi­tu­itary re­sponse to luteiniz­ing hor­mone re­leas­ing hor­mone in the brown hare, Lepus eu­ropaeus. Can. J. Zool., 67: 1626-1630.

Dragg, A. 1974. Mam­mals of On­tario. Wa­ter­loo, On­tario: Otter Press.

Hall, E., K. Kel­son. 1959. Mam­mals of North Amer­ica. New York: The Ronald Press Co..

Hamil­ton, W., J. Whitaker. 1943. Mam­mals of the East­ern United States. 2nd ed. Ith­ica, NY: Cor­nell Uni­ver­sity Press.

Lin­coln, G. 1974. Re­pro­duc­tion and March mad­ness in the Brown hare, Lepus eu­ropaeus. J. Zool. Lond., 174: 1-14.

Pe­ter­son, R. 1966. The Mam­mals of East­ern Canada. Ox­ford Uni­ver­sity Press.

Poli, A., M. Nigro, D. Gal­lazi, G. Sironi, A. Lavazza. 1991. Acute he­pato­sis in the eu­ro­pean brown hare (Lepus eu­ropaeus) in Italy. Jour­nal of Wildlife Dis­eases, 27(4): 621-629.