Poelagus marjorita
Bunyoro rabbit

Poelagus marjorita is an exclusively African species with major populations concentrated in southern Uganda. In addition, P. marjorita has a distribution as far west as Angola and as far east as Sudan. Other scattered populations of Uganda grass-hares are found directly north of Lake Victoria along the Uganda river basin. ("African Mammals Databank: Poelagus marjorita", 1997; Kingdon, 1974)

Grasslands and low scrublands are the preferred habitat of grass-hares. The region in which P. marjorita lives has a variable climate, where there are both rainy and an extended dry seasons each year. Tall grasses thrive during the rainy season but are not abundant during the dry. This cyclic variance in grassland production directly effects P. marjorita because tall grasses are what this species depends upon for both sustenance and concealment from its predators. The Ugandan region is dominated by savanna-like grasslands and scattered undergrowth. The soil is rocky with fissures and crags in the ground. This environment is similar to others within the Great Rift Valley. Due to the arid conditions of the region, the habitat of P. marjorita is subject to annual to bi-annual brush fires. (Kingdon, 1974; United Nations Environment Program, 1984)

Uganda grass-hares physically resemble domestic rabbits, which is reflected in its colloquial name, Bunyoro rabbit. This species has relatively short ears and truncated limbs when compared to other Leporidae. These animals weigh between 2 and 3 kg. The hind-foot measures 90 to 100 mm; the tail, 45 to 50 mm; and the ears only 60 to 65 mm. P. marjorita has a grayish brown surface pelage, with a cotton-white coloration on the underside. (Kingdon, 1974; Vaughan, Ryan, and Czaplewski, 2000)

The genitals of male and female P. marjorita are identical in appearance due to identical sac-like glands found just behind the testes and rounded tufts of hair that cover male scrota and occur in the same place in females. When the penis is retracted, males and females are difficult to distinguish. (Kingdon, 1974)

Wild grass-hares commonly live up to four years in the wild, although it is unlikely to find older individuals due to predation. The average mortality for P. marjorita occurs before or at the age three and a half years, although individuals in captivity have lived to be up to twelve years of age. (Kingdon, 1974)

Little is known about the behavior of these animals. They are nocturnal or crepuscular. Like other members of the family Leporidae, these animals live on the ground and are specialized for hopping. Males are aggressive and territorial. (Kingdon, 1974)

Home Range

P. marjorita generally will have a home range of ten to twenty square meters, depending on the availability of food and nesting ground

Like other Lagomorphs, scent marking and touch are important intra-specific means of communication. P. marjoita is known to flash the white of its tail to indicate a threat to other members of its species. Vocalizations have not been reported for these animals. (Kingdon, 1974)

This species subsists on short grasses, shrubs, forbs and tubers. P. marjorita will consume flowering buds, growing shoots and is known to re-ingest its own feces to extract additional nutrients from them. (Kingdon, 1974)

P. marjorita is an important prey species for many Ugandan raptors, including owls, hawks and eagles. Genetta tigrina and Genetta servalina are two of the most common predators of grass-hares, although baboons and cats are known to consume them as well. (Kingdon, 1974)

Uganda grass-hares, as browsers and grazers, are much like miniature-ungulates. Because populations are reasonably high in the Uganda area, they serve as an important prey species for cursorial and aviary predators. (Kingdon, 1974)

An unlikely association that P. marjorita has formed is a close dependance on buffalo. Buffalo are heavy browsers and tend to convert tall grassland into lower grazing meadows. It is in this habitat that P. marjorita is best suited and small groups of these hares can be seen browsing besides these large bovids. (Kingdon, 1974)

These hares have not been reported to affect human economies adversely.

These animals are not known to be of any economic importance to humans.

Kingdon speculates that with increasing human agricultural expansion in the Uganda region, the grasslands and scrub-lands on which P. marjorita depends will soon disappear. Encroaching human populations will endow an invariably negative effect on the hare populations. There is no record of this species on the IUCN,CITES, or US Federal concervation websites. (Kingdon, 1974)