A study of the causes of the decline in numbers of the brown hare (Lepus capensis) in Britain.

Abstract

In Britain the Brown hare (Lepus capensis) is not regarded as a valuable shooting quarry, thus our research efforts in game management have tended to concentrate on the native wild gamebirds such as the partridge (Perdix perdix)  and the red grouse (Lagopus lagopus) . For this reason we do not have a background of wildlife research on hares in Britain upon which to base sound game management strategies However, in recent years we have found that hare numbers in Britain appeared to be declining and that we did not know what was causing it. Thus in the late 1970's we began a series of studies, firstly to establish the  nature and extent of Britain's declining hare population and secondly to try  to uncover the causes of these changes. This paper presents a brief overview of our efforts in this direction so far.