Hares more plentiful in coursing areas

DESPITE claims to the contrary by anti-field sports organisations, hares are 18 times more plentiful in areas managed by the Irish Coursing Club (ICC) than at similar sites in the wider countryside, a recent study by Queen’s University Belfast has shown.

There are 80 or so coursing clubs in Ireland and each is associated with areas known as ‘hare preserves’. In such areas, the clubs ensure predator control and the maintenance of suitable hare habitat, and ban other forms of hunting.

Anti-field sports organisations, in addition to animal welfare objections, dispute the effectiveness of Irish Coursing Club (ICC) hare-population management practices and claim that annual harvesting of hares causes population declines.

The Queen’s research team, led by Dr Neil Reid, indirectly tested management practices by comparing hare numbers within preserves to those in the wider countryside. While the role of habitat was not ruled out, they concluded that higher numbers were found in ICC preserves, either because clubs select areas of high hare density, or because active population-management increases numbers.

Co-author of the study, Professor Ian Montgomery, head of the school of biological sciences at Queen’s, said the Irish hare was one of the highest priority species in Ireland, and that its conservation was a fine balance between the management of suitable habitat, population management by coursing clubs, and associated animal welfare concerns.

“Without legal, well-organised and regulated coursing, much of the costs of conservation will fall exclusively on government,” he said. This research follows a previous study published by the same group in the journal, Animal Welfare, in 2007, which showed that survival of hares at coursing events significantly improved with the introduction of compulsory muzzling of greyhounds in 1993.

It found that improvements in the handling of captive hares further reduced deaths. It is estimated that 4% of the 6,000 hares netted by the ICC each year are killed, with the rest released back into the wild.

Irish hares have undergone a substantial population decline since the early 20th century, due to the modernisation of agriculture, changes in land use, loss of suitable habitat and, some would claim, hunting and the effects of field sports. Hares thrive where there is good quality grassland for grazing at night, interspersed with areas of tall vegetation providing cover and shelter for lying-up during the day. Information on the study is available on the Quercus website, www.quercus.ac.uk.

The Irish mountain hare has been here for thousands of years. For example, the bones of an animal found in Co Waterford are 28,000 years old, according to the National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS). A unique subspecies, the Irish hare does not turn white in winter like other European populations, and it inhabits lowland areas.

Sometimes confused with the rabbit, especially from a distance, the hare is distinguished by its longer ears – slightly shorter than the length of its head – and longer hind feet. Its coat is usually reddish brown in summer, but changes to grey-brown in the winter.

As anyone familiar with the countryside knows, numbers have decreased in recent years, though the hare is still found in every county. It lives in open areas on uplands, farmland and grassland.

Hares are most likely to be found in ‘unimproved’ areas, where vegetation and tall plants, such as rushes, are found. This provides not only food, but also cover and shelter where they can lie up during the day, out of sight of predators. The hare is usually nocturnal, but is sometimes active during daylight in spring and summer.

Hares rest above ground in shallow depressions called ‘forms’, and in some areas will dig shallow burrows. They are usually solitary animals, but sometimes gather in large numbers to feed. Their diet includes many different plants, including heather, herbs, gorse, plantain, dandelions and grasses.

Breeding usually occurs between January and September. Males (jack hares) engage in dramatic courting rituals and there are often squabbles at this time, as they kick, box and chase each other: hence the phrase “as mad as a March hare.”

Breeding females usually have two or three litters each year, and there are one to four leverets in each litter. Leverets are born fully furred and have their eyes open, and are weaned at three weeks. Only about one-fifth of young hares survive their first year.

Irish hares appear to be relatively solitary animals for most of the year, with a limited range. Studies have produced figures of between 10 and 40 hectares as the Irish hare’s typical range. Although not highly social, Irish hares exist as local populations, some of which have become extinct.